


The Well of Emerald Waters

by shinealightrose



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), EXO (Band)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragon Age - Freeform, M/M, Romance, This is the epic of most epic things I've ever written, mythical creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2018-04-28 19:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 53
Words: 179,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinealightrose/pseuds/shinealightrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Forbidden love, adventure, myth, and mysteries in the Dragon Age.</p><p>Luhan is a templar hunting the rogue mage Xiumin. He gets a little help along the way by a party of Fereldens, including one young nobleman's brat and the tainted creature that's following them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Story Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for only light 'video game' violence. 
> 
> IMPORTANT: Do you need to be familiar with the game to read this? No. This is a fantasy world at its core, that just so happens to borrow from the DA universe, and it is not essential that you know the game backwards and forwards, or even at all. Fanfiction: is it not a glorious thing?

It was a dark and stormy night the day it all began… Actually it was daytime and a little bit overcast, and already three weeks into the excursion, but given the circumstances Luhan didn’t think he could be too overly dramatic in his storytelling. He definitely wished the weather had been moodier though to complement the tale, because this grayish, dull half-light didn’t quite suit his mood. The mood that said Luhan’s life was about to get terribly out of control, and that was saying something because Luhan felt he’d already lived well enough for his twenty-six years of age.

He was a templar,* a newly appointed junior templar to the Circle* Tower at Lake Calenhad, Ferelden.* Two years ago the mages* kept here had been possessed by abominations, many had died, and lots of brave templars - their job to keep mages safe, and from turning crazy - had died as well. At least that’s how the Templar order told the tale. Luhan had looked at the figures once when he visited the office of his Knight-Commander, and scribbled along the edge of a scroll was the actual number of mages dead (twenty-three) and the numbers of templar dead (a grand total of four). And yet the monument erected on the edge of Circle grounds only mourned for the deceased templars, heroic till the end. Mages apparently deserved everything they got. 

Luhan hadn’t been there for that, thank the Maker. As a templar he already thought his life bad enough keeping the mages in line, persuading them in good templar rhetoric that it was for their own safety that all peoples gifted with magical powers be locked up, the better to control their abilities, and contain them when demons managed to overrun their bodies. Luhan never wanted to actually have to witness any of that though, oh no. He had no training for that sort of thing!

Which was why it was oddly comical that he’d been selected as part of this not-so-routine mission: rounding up apostate* mages in the wilds. He’d set out with a party of ten other templars, men more experienced than himself… in the ways of getting out of a task. Four of them managed to invent a dispatch that redirected their party to the inns and taverns at Redcliffe, alone. Two more had decided they really needed to go after them and bring them back into custody, wink wink. 

Those brigands, Luhan complained to himself.

Luhan and the other three had actually managed to capture one of the apostates on their list. The woman was listed as at-large and dangerous. It turned out she was a lost Tranquil* mage, completely harmless, and had no idea where she was, but the remaining three templars insisted she needed a full accompaniment back home. They also insisted there was another encampment listed on their map nearby, and that Luhan would have absolutely no difficulty rounding up the ‘kid’ they were supposed to capture, all on his own.

It was only after they’d left that Luhan read the fine print on his scroll:

Wanted - Xiumin, apostate mage, sole survivor of a blast that blew up his family, probably started by the mage himself. Warning: extremely dangerous.

He also learned that this ‘kid’ hadn’t been a kid in at least fifteen years, and that the regional reports on Xiumin’s mage-at-large activities included a whole host of demonic powers, including but not limited to calling forth ghouls, summoning familiars and, worst of the worst, blood magic.* 

Luhan was going to die, he just knew it. He was barely twenty-six, alone and unloved - if only he'd gotten the courage to kiss the Knight-Commander’s niece at least once, that time when they’d gone for a stroll by the lake... Perhaps if he’d done that, then maybe he could die a little happier, knowing that his lips wouldn’t go down untouched.

“'Do not approach without back-up,'” Luhan read to himself in a whisper. And then he cursed. “Maker’s breath! How I do not want to be here!’ 

The wind seemed to wend faster through the tree branches overhead, and Luhan shushed himself immediately. What if the trees were listening? What if they were spies who could send warning to the apostate and Luhan would die all the more faster?

“Now who’s being stupid, Luhan,” he said to himself, shaking his head. He kept silent thereafter though, just in case nightmares were real and trees could hear. 

He was probably setting himself up for a suicide mission, but there was just the tiniest bit of heroic pride that persuaded him to continue. What if, what if he did capture the apostate alive - in this case, Luhan remaining alive - and dragged him back to the Circle Tower? Then he’d be the big fat hero, and nobody would think twice about doubting his abilities again. He would earn a promotion that much sooner, and have a nice cushy job herding Tranquil around from tower to tower, he could properly court the Knight-Commander’s niece, and life would be a breeze. 

A bug flew past his nose and Luhan held super still, willing down his instincts to flee and run away. It was a grand success, proving that indeed, Luhan could do this.

Less than an hour later he was approaching the mark on his map where Xiumin’s hut was supposed to be. He moved slowly, eyes open and mind alert, ready to defend against any magical attack, should Xiumin be onto him. Templars could do that sort of thing. They were trained to not only resist magic, but to deflect it as well, suppress it. The skill, however, was only as good as a templar’s prowess and mental acuity. And to a good, sustaining supply of Lyrium* potions, but on that Luhan didn’t need to dwell.

Xiumin, focus on Xiumin.

He didn’t have any idea what this person would look like. The records were sketchy, but he was supposed to be around Luhan’s age, because he’d been living in the wild for at least a decade alone. Luhan wondered why no one had come after him yet. Why he happened to have a map with Xiumin’s location, and yet it was only now the templar expedition had set out. 

He imagined the apostate would look as wild as the surrounding woods. Lack of civilization, tasty food, good wine. He’d probably be dirty, hairy and smell like a nugsty. How could a person live out here all alone and not go mad?

The hut he found looked deserted, but speaking of nugs, Luhan immediately noticed a cluster of small snouted creatures in a halfway disguised pen along the side of the hut. They were well fed and domesticated. 

It seemed Luhan had indeed found his apostate shack. He grinned to himself, held up his shield and slowly approached the front door. Xiumin might be wild and depraved, but his magical defenses couldn’t stop a templar, not even one of Luhan’s rank. The door gave in easily, and even though Luhan felt an aura of magic drift over him, he willed it gone easily like an odor lost in a gust of wind. The hut was empty, he was disappointed to see. No mage, no Xiumin, but the ashes in the fireplace were still warm. 

He definitely had the right place, just not the right timing. Maybe it was better this way. Instead of an assault, he would lie in wait and still take the apostate by surprise. If he could shake off his sudden drowsiness… he had been walking all morning after all… it was barely midday. The apostate wouldn’t return for a while most likely… 

Luhan yawned. He could… afford a short nap… on the blanket… that looked so cozy… in front of the fire… Were the ashes looking a little bit warmer now? Luhan swore they were almost out when he'd walked in, and yet they were starting to emit a comfortable, warm glow and it all just smelled so nice… 

 

 

 

When he came to, it was to the slow realization that his back ached and his neck was sore. Also that the fireplace had a nice roaring crackle to it, and that Luhan was lying on the ground - a face hovering above him.

“Well, well… looks like I caught myself a templar?” said that face, and all Luhan could do was blink.

An unbidden thought raced across his mind. Cute, said that thought. Then he realized he was staring up at an apostate, and that somehow he wasn’t dead yet.

“Who… who are you?” Luhan decided to take this whole arrest-the-mage-process very, very slow. “Are you Xiumin?”

The apostate blinked back at him, inclined his head curiously, smiled and then nodded his head. 

“I am Xiumin. I take it you were looking for me?”

Well, now that Luhan had confirmation, he could spring into action. He sat up, ignoring the pounding in his head and flung his hands in front of himself. The action caught the mage off guard just as he intended, and Xiumin fell backwards a few steps, landed delicately on his butt on the ground. His hand fell right next to a long metal coated staff but just as he reached for it, Luhan cast a dispelling aura and Xiumin shrieked and dropped it. 

“Don’t you dare, mage!” Luhan cried in triumph as he pulled himself to his feet. He towered over the apostate, one hand before his body and the other reaching for his weapons. “Touch it, and you’re dead!”

Xiumin sat firmly before him, his face a mixture of alarm and… was that a smirk?

“Okay,” he said evenly. “I won’t touch it. But do tell me how you intend to kill me when you, my dear templar, are completely weaponless and without armor?”

It was then Luhan realized his nearly bare condition. He felt naked. He wasn’t naked, but he definitely didn’t have on his armor. Instead, it seemed Xiumin had stripped him while he slept - while he’d been drugged! - of everything but his underclothes. He stood before him now in only a dark brown tunic and pants, and he hadn’t a single piece of metal to attack or defend himself with. No sword, no shield. Xiumin had even found the back-up daggers in his left boot and the inside of his thigh. Perhaps this wasn’t the time to blush though. Luhan glanced around fearfully and the only article of his he could see were his boots which Xiumin had irritatingly placed by the door in a taunting gesture no doubt. The mage sat between him and his boots too, not that they’d be any good in a battle.

“I can still fight you,” said Luhan, holding up his fists instead. 

“Oh, you can, huh?” taunted the mage with slow, methodical words. “Turn away my magic all you want, but you’re kind of puny without all that armor, don’t you know? Think I didn’t notice that? You think you could take me down one on one?” He raised his eyebrows threateningly and Luhan balked.

Now that he looked over the mage on the ground, Xiumin didn’t look only cute. He was slight, yes, and had soft brown hair and a tight smile and adorable eyes, and he was definitely shorter than Luhan, but that wouldn’t mean much in a scuffle. He wore mage robes cut from furs and cloth in the color of earth tones, but no sleeves. His arms were bare, covered in markings and… completely solid muscle. Luhan gulped.

“I don’t have to kill you,” Luhan bluffed wildly. “I just have to tie you up. You’re under arrest by authority of the Templar Order, in conjunction with the Chantry* and the Chant of Light.”

“Going to drag me to some Circle Tower, are you?” said Xiumin. “Lock me up and put me to work perfecting some mundane craft for the advancement of society? I’m such a danger to people, out here in the wilds, aren’t I? Or tell me, templar. Will you turn me Tranquil? Remove my emotions and still put me to work?”

“I… I don’t know what they’ll do with you, but you’re definitely coming with me.” Luhan blinked furiously and tried to clear his head. There was still something clouding his judgment, something magical.

Xiumin chuckled lightly. “How’d you like the perfume I made for you earlier? Wasn’t it sweet? A bit intoxicating? Drowsy?”

At least now Luhan knew why he felt so weak. The fumes from the fireplace were still floating about, and it seemed his apostate wasn’t just a mage; he was an alchemist too. The situation was even more dangerous, and Luhan knew if he was going to survive this he needed to get outside the hut and away from the poisoning air. Then again, there was the matter of his puny arms, and the mage staff Xiumin hadn’t again dared to pick up, yet. 

“How about… you pass me the staff, and I won’t hurt you, and then we can just talk about this?” It was in Luhan’s best interest to try to reason with him.

Xiumin smirked again. “Love your plan. How about… not?” And then he whistled. 

Before Luhan could lose even a second’s chance, he lunged at the mage, only briefly noting the howl of a vicious sounding dog, but there wasn’t time to worry about that yet. He had Xiumin underneath him, one knee holding him down by the hips, and a hand clenching around Xiumin’s outstretched wrist. With his free hand Luhan grasped wildly for the staff. He missed it by mere inches, but at least in the scuffle it rolled further away from the mage. Unfortunately though, his plunge for it set him off balance and that was all the leverage Xiumin needed to fight back and flip their positions. Luhan huffed as his back hit the ground, wind knocked from his lungs and Xiumin forced him down. His arms were no lie, Luhan realized. Tiny delicate mage palms shoved in-ordinarily hard into the front of his shoulders, and Luhan was completely immobile, no better than a butterfly pinned to the ground. He wheezed, panicked, and struggled uselessly but Xiumin had definitely won this, and when out of the corner of his eye a mabari hound whipped ruthlessly into the hut, Luhan knew he was going to die. He clenched his eyes and said a silent prayer to the Maker. 

What he didn’t expect was for his prayer to work. In a heartbeat, Xiumin’s hands were removed, and his entire body flung aside. A muddy paw print bled into the fabric around Luhan’s hips, but the giant animal who had come when Xiumin whistled hadn’t attacked him. It had attacked Xiumin. It had bowled right over them both and the impact left the apostate now in a nearly identical position on the ground with the dog on top of him, paws pinning him down and it licked viciously, ferociously at the mage’s face.

“No! No, Alistair, down! Alistair, not me! Not me!” Xiumin was drowning in slobber.

Luhan wrenched himself off the floor, dived for the staff on the other side of the room, and across his thigh he snapped it in two. 

The mage shrieked and spluttered, and he turned his head in time to see his only real weapon destroyed, crying as the hound on top of him continued its ministrations. 

“Got you now!” cried Luhan. He spotted a strip of leather on a barrel next to Xiumin’s bed and approached the mage and dog. The animal, Alistair, glanced up at him once and for some reason perceived no threat to either him or to his master. It was nearly the same size as him, Luhan noted with glee, and therefore the perfect anchor for holding Xiumin down. Mabaris were more than unusually large for their breed, bred to be attack dogs, or guard dogs. They had enough bite to rip a man’s head off, or to lick him to death. Luhan didn’t think this one had gotten much training though, and he snickered. Xiumin, however, cried in despair when he felt Luhan slipping behind him. He tipped the mage into a sitting position, hound still across his lap, and pulled Xiumin’s hands behind his back. Once they were tied, he stepped away and only then did the hound get off and come to say hello. 

“Alistair?” Luhan greeted the dog with a cautious pet. He’d always been good with animals, and sure enough he got a woof of enthusiasm. “Good boy, Alistair. Good dog.” 

Meanwhile Xiumin sobbed. Luhan felt a tiny bit of pity for him, but then he wasn’t sure the apostate wouldn’t blow him up given the right chance. It was definitely better this way.

“Alright,” said Luhan. “Care to tell me where you’ve thrown my armor and weapons?” He strode over to the apostate and hauled him awkwardly to his feet, checked that his leather ropes were holding, and then lead them outside. 

Here the air was cleaner, and he could breathe deeply. “Ahhhhhhhh,” he hummed, and Xiumin staggered by his side. “Good day. Good dog. Now, where were we?” 

 

 

 

Fortunately, Xiumin hadn’t gotten too far with Luhan’s things. He found his templar armor and robes in a heap behind the shack, dirtied but not irreparably so. His sword he located halfway buried in a pond with just the hilt sticking out and tangling in some mud grass. Xiumin also finally confessed at sword-point that Luhan’s shield was hidden underneath his bed. Luhan buried his nose in his robes and braved one last trip into the hut and when he came out, Xiumin was sitting uncomfortably on a stump several paces from his house and rolling his eyes. Alistair squatted by his feet and panted happily but he absolutely refused to chew through Xiumin’s ties when the mage whined at him to do so. It made Luhan chuckle.

“So where did you even get a dog like that?” Luhan asked him when he’d reemerged from the hut. He was already reattaching his weapons belt. 

“I found him as a puppy,” Xiumin answered, and with a resigned sigh that he continued into the next breath, he asked, “So where are you taking me?” 

Luhan adjusted his breastplate and smoothed out his robes until everything felt normal again. He was a little embarrassed to how admit much better he felt just having all his weapons back on him. He never wanted to be in such a vulnerable position again. “Lake Calenhad. The Circle Tower,” he said finally.

“Of course you are,” sighed Xiumin. He nodded his head glumly. “And might I ask why?”

Luhan looked up at him. “Because I’m supposed to?”

“So, you’re just following orders?” 

“Well, yes.” Xiumin narrowed his eyes at him. “Why not? They’re good orders. Magic is dangerous, and you are dangerous. ‘Magic exists to serve man and never to rule over him. Foul and corrupt are they who have taken His gift-‘“ 

“Oh, please don’t start spouting the Chant of Light at me, I beg of you.” Xiumin rolled his eyes in one particularly heavy swoop and Luhan found himself wanting to stop. The apostate was amusing to him, now that he didn’t have a viable form of defense in his hands.

“You know, even if you didn’t explode my head off when you had the chance, you are still susceptible to the spirits in the veil and could become possessed. It happens all the time to mages who cannot control their magic.”

“You doubt my ability to do magic?” Xiumin queried. 

“I bet all the mages who turned into abominations in this world thought the same thing.”

“Yeah? What would you bet?”

The question puzzled Luhan. He wasn’t even sure if he should answer it. In fact, the more he let Xiumin talk the more he was puzzled by him. He should really just set off already but it was getting late and he had no desire to go wandering blindly in the wilds after dark.

“My hat for your dog,” he answered finally. “Seriously though, I would hope your mage skills are better than your dog training skills. What kind of pet attacks you when intruders come into your home?”

Xiumin sighed. It was about the fiftieth time he’d done so since Luhan tied him up, not that Luhan was counting or anything. It was just an innocent observation.

“To be honest I didn’t know he wouldn’t defend me, given such a circumstance. Blighted creature,” he spat. “Too friendly. I figured it might at least act ferocious, just this once.” 

“Why the name Alistair?” 

Xiumin shrugged. “Met a grey warden several years back. Funny fellow. The dog reminded me of him.” 

Luhan stood with his hands on his hips. “Well that’s funny, seeing how that’s the name now of our K—“

“So, what now, Templar!” Xiumin interrupted him. “How far to your Circle and are we to travel at night and both end up dead before morning?” He smiled creepily.

“I think not,” said Luhan resolutely. “By the way, my name isn’t ‘Templar’. It’s Luhan. You can call me that if you like.”

“My name is Xiumin, but you can call me mage if you like.” 

Luhan was starting to think Xiumin’s jibes were endless, and increasingly annoying. “I’ll suit myself.”

Night was fast approaching, and as Xiumin had warned, Luhan knew it was madness to try and go anywhere after sundown. He settled instead for drawing up a plan of action, and that was to spend the night here - but not in the poisoned hut - and leave first thing in the morning. In the meantime he needed food. They needed food, he quickly amended. Ransacking Xiumin’s supplies barrels was probably risky, but it was the best option Luhan had, if he wanted to have enough rations to get them all the way home.

“How far is the Circle?” Xiumin asked again later. 

“Three weeks’ journey,” Luhan replied, in between laying out food stocks. 

“And can we take my doggie?” he asked cheerily a few minutes later.

“I suppose that depends,” said Luhan. “Will he cuddle with the first bandits that try to murder us?”

“I guess we can see and find out.”

Luhan huffed but Xiumin continued to nag at him all night. First he was uncomfortable on his stump, but he didn’t want to sit on the ground, else how could he get up without his hands. Luhan ignored him. But then he complained that his wrists were starting to chafe. Luhan refused to untie him. Then he couldn’t eat the food Luhan prepared and since Luhan couldn’t countenance making another human being eat off the ground like Alistair, the templar was obliged to dangle scraps of food in front of Xiumin’s mouth and so they were both fed. 

By the time it was late and Luhan had laid out blankets for them to sleep on out under the stars, Xiumin informed him of another problem and Luhan almost lost his mind - he almost determined to either let the mage loose from arrest and happily accept his own death, or else kill the mage and return empty handed and with a guilty conscious. 

Instead, and after much fretting, he found himself leading Xiumin over to the bushes, untying just one hand from custody, and firmly linking one of his own hands to the mage’s while Xiumin studiously relieved his bowels. With three weeks left of this, Luhan didn’t know how he would make it.

Morning came as a surprise, probably because Luhan really thought the chances were high of being eaten in the night. He arose first, Alistair padding over to lick him good day, and he nudged the sleeping apostate awake with the side of his boot. Xiumin grunted and shivered in his half-sleep and Luhan fought the urge to actually leave him here in the wilds. This was the demon worshiper? This boy who was nearly the same age as himself, who had done nothing to Luhan except what he needed to defend himself and his home, who had probably had more than an ample opportunity to murder Luhan while he was drugged, but hadn’t? All last evening he’d been disagreeable and moody, but never offensive, and no ghouls had popped out to torture the templar, and not a single familiar had threatened him, except for Alistair of course. Luhan was pretty sure he had a splendid bruise on his hip from where the dog had pounded over him in his haste to subdue his master. 

“Xiumin? Wake up?” he nudged the sleeping man again, gently on his side. Nothing happened except for more morning groans. His eyelids flickered but did not open. “Xiumin? Xiu-min. Time to go, else I’m leaving you here with Alistair and a bone tied to your head.” Still nothing. So this was the great and powerful wizard of the wilds? Luhan mused to himself. 

He squatted down and tapped his face, snorting slightly at how puffy Xiumin’s cheeks were when squashed up against the ground and his canvas blanket, the one Luhan had none too gently wrapped around him last night. “Wake up. Mage, wake up.”

Oddly enough, that did it. Xiumin’s eyes finally pried themselves open and the apostate squinted up at him in anger. “Now, you call me mage?” he demanded sleepily. 

It was decidedly unfair, Luhan thought. He had after all called him by name three times and nothing had worked. Before Xiumin sat up, he checked his ties and finding them still in place he grumbled happily and bustled about readying the three of them, Alistair included, for their journey.

 

 

Several hours later Luhan was already recalculating how long it would probably take them to return to the Circle Tower. Xiumin walked slow as dirt. In fact, he was probably counting each speck of dirt he kicked up as they shuffled along. It was deliberate, and annoying and most of the time he wasn’t even talking. Alistair ran along beside them, sometimes scoping out the road in front, sometimes getting sidetracked by smells behind them and them zooming passed. Each time he did Xiumin would sigh and grumble at the dog who was technically the sole reason he was in custody. Luhan was under no illusion that he’d have won this scuffle without the mabari hound’s assistance. Perhaps Alistair has a templar agenda that Xiumin just wasn’t aware of. Luhan wasn’t going to argue. At this point the dog was better company than his moody prisoner. Xiumin made even Luhan look like a ball of energy when he’d first set out on this expedition.

“Are you even Ferelden?” Xiumin asked him while they stopped beside a stream to refill their water flasks. 

“No. How could you tell?”

“Your accent. Your looks. None of that is local. And you're too haughty. Where are you from?”

“Nevarra,” said Luhan, and Xiumin’s eyes widened as he nodded. 

“I see. But now you’re in Ferelden. What happened. Daddy chuck you out?”

“Something like that.” Actually it was exactly like that. As the fourth son of minor nobility and way too many brothers, it was in the family's (read: the eldest son’s) best interest to eliminate as many claims as possible to their seat of power. “I joined the templars—“

“You mean you were forced to join.”

Luhan sighed. “I joined the templars and started my training as a boy, in Cumberland. Just recently I was transferred here. This is my first… real mission.”

Xiumin sniffed the air, pretending to be impressed. “Your first mission, huh? So you’re what, a big boy now? I’ve been meaning to ask you, why are you alone? Don’t templars usually travel in packs?”

How to tell the mage that his comrades had gone off hunting… more pleasant things? “They were dispatched elsewhere along the road,” he settled for the simplest answer. 

“Oh, lucky you,” said Xiumin in a sing-song voice. “So what did my scroll say? Am I bad? Am I super dangerous? A shape-shifter at least?” 

“It said you did blood magic,” Luhan confessed. Something was starting to nag at his senses, somewhere along the road, perhaps behind them. He darted his eyes around, front to back, and he wasn’t looking at the mage when Xiumin went silent. 

“Blood magic?” said the apostate, honestly surprised. “Really…”

Before he could say anything more, however, Alistair bounded up suddenly, having just double-backed on the path, and he growled in warning. Luhan immediately pulled Xiumin by his elbow off the path and into the forest, the hound springing around beside them. 

“What?” said the mage.

“Shhhh,” Luhan quietened him, and he ducked down low behind a boulder, shoving Xiumin’s head as well. 

They were obscured just in time for a group of horsemen to come into view. Through the shrubbery Luhan counted upwards of six riders and assorted free horses carrying loot. All the riders were armed and vicious looking.

“Bandits,” he whispered. “Keep quiet. We’ll let them pass.” 

Xiumin did as he instructed, although from his perch he was finding it difficult to maintain a squat with his arms tied behind his back. Out of instinct, Luhan latched onto his bound wrists and held the mage upright by pressing him into his side. His eyes though never left the trajectory of the riders as they approached, passed by, and finally disappeared into the distance. Only when they couldn’t hear the echo of hoofbeats did Luhan lift his head, pull himself and Xiumin up, and peek out onto the road. 

“All clear,” he motioned. Alistair too rose from his hiding place and followed. 

“I can see that,” scoffed Xiumin. “But they rode past us. What’s to stop them from turning around, or us coming across them later? You should give me something to defend myself with. Better yet, untie me,” he cajoled.

Luhan shook his head, bemused that the mage would even suggest such a thing. “And let you wander off or stab me in the back? Not a chance.”

“Hey,” Xiumin protested. “I wouldn’t stab you in the back. You’d probably be running after me, so it would definitely be your chest.”

“Is that supposed to be a joke? Please, I hope that’s a joke. You know what? It doesn’t matter, because it’s not happening. Let’s just get going.”

This time he made Xiumin walk faster, otherwise this would turn into a four-week journey, and one of them would definitely be dead by that time. Probably Luhan, out of sheer agony from being cooped up with an apostate mage. Xiumin wouldn’t even have to blow him up.

 

 

They were reunited with the bandits several hours later. Or rather, two of them to be exact. Alistair sniffed at the two prostrate bodies laying on the path as Luhan confirmed they were definitely dead. 

“Stabbed in the back, this one,” said Xiumin with a laugh semi-halted in the back of his throat. “Or well, stabbed through with an arrow.” He kicked the body to make it roll over. “Same guys we saw earlier?”

“Pretty sure they are,” Luhan confirmed. “This one has sword wounds along his chest. And another arrow. Looks like they were attempting to flee from some kind of scuffle.”

“With each other?” asked Xiumin.

“No, probably not. These arrow markings. Not the same kind I saw them wearing when they rode passed us. I’d say… another party. We best watch out in case we meet them as well.”

Xiumin hummed to himself, bounced a little on his feet to energize himself, and flexed his shoulders as if trying to ease his bound arms. Luhan figured he was about to ask for a weapon again, and Luhan truthfully wished he could allow it. One man alone on the highway with a bound prisoner and a friendly beast for a dog wasn’t exactly the most ideal way to travel, especially with bandits around. 

Xiumin had another idea though. “Here’s a thought, why don’t we just return to my shack? We can hole up, and I won’t kill you, and we can live out the rest of our days in peace. No bandits.”

Luhan laughed. “You think your place is bandit proof?”

“Why not? It was very nearly templar proof, until Alistair decided you were the next best thing after nug bones.” It seemed he was still grumpy about that. 

“I am way better than nug bones,” Luhan replied obstinately. 

“Yeah right. Come on nug bones. Back on the road, we go.”

And suddenly Luhan doubted who was leading who. 

 

 

 

 

By the end of the first evening when dusk approached, Luhan spotted a campfire in the distance. It could be the bandits, or it could be the other party of unknowables, and the templar was disposed to stay well clear of both, if he could at all help it. However, this meant that they couldn’t also build a fire and so they set up a lonely, cold camp and ate dried foods for dinner. Xiumin was silent and mournful, although Luhan had replaced his bindings so that his hands were tied in front of his body and not behind. Luhan didn’t have to feed him this way, or hold his hand while he relieved himself. It was only safe though when Luhan could keep an eye on him, and he really didn’t trust the mage to not attempt to work his ties off while Luhan slept. For this reason he left Xiumin’s hands in front, but as his final act before sleeping, Luhan tied one of his own wrists into a triple hand bind. If Xiumin tried to do anything, he would definitely wake Luhan up.

“This is stupid,” said Xiumin with a sigh. “Now neither of us are going to sleep well. Your hand is too sweaty.”

“Deal with it,” Luhan replied. He laid on his left side, Xiumin on his right side, arms stretched out between them but Xiumin was still more than unusually close for a stranger who might kill him at any time. “Deal with it,” he whispered one last time, but this time it was more for himself.

Contrary to Xiumin’s belief, they both slept soundly. 

Until something kicked at his shins and Luhan was suddenly wide awake. Panic clenched in his gut when he realized it wasn’t the mage who had woken him. Xiumin was likewise squirming from the subsequent kick to his feet. 

Bandits!

Luhan bolted upright, or tried to. His assailant checked him in just a sitting position and Xiumin cried when he was yanked up by his wrists as well.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you,” said the man above him.

“Who are you!” shouted Luhan, blood all aflame.

“Uhhh ahhhh, I said don’t move.” 

Luhan froze, eyes clearing as he observed the situation. There was a drawn arrow ready to fly right into his skull, the point only a hair’s breadth away and held in check by long sinuous fingers attached to a slight body with flaming red hair. An elf. An elf holding a bow.

The stranger smirked. “At least not until I figure out what we have here. What’s this. One templar?” His eyes registered Luhan’s robes and armor before skirting quickly to the mage beside him. “Plus lover? Odd indeed.” Xiumin hadn’t moved though he was definitely awake and frightened. He laid flat on the ground with only his hands in the air, partially obscured by Luhan. 

“What do you want?” Luhan demanded with deliberate menace, a threat he probably couldn’t have followed up with, but one thing Luhan had learned from his training with the templars was that posture was sometimes all a man had to work with. He didn’t bother correcting the elf. Not yet at least.

“Relax, relax,” said the elf. He moved back a step but didn’t withdraw his arrow. “I was just scouting around. Something’s been following us, but I think you are not it. Nor are you from that party of bandits we caught yesterday.”

“The bandits?” said Luhan. “Then you were the one who attacked them?” Suddenly the arrow looked mighty familiar.

“Us attack them?” The elf scoffed, and then incredibly, he laughed and pointed his arrow away. “They attacked us first! Deserved what they got too. I only wish I’d gotten more of them myself. Anyways, I’m Baekhyun, and if you promise me you’re not a bandit hiding beneath that templar’s skirt, you and lover boy can sit up properly.”

“It’s not a skirt!”

“I’m not his lover!”

Luhan and Xiumin protested at once. 

Baekhyun needed convincing of that, but he finally accepted Luhan’s story that indeed he was a very manly templar and Xiumin was his mage prisoner and they were making their way back to the Circle Tower very, very slowly.

“Heading back to the Circle alone then?” said the elf. “Well, we are traveling in that direction currently. Why don’t we gang up?” 

“Who is ‘we’” Luhan asked, but Baekhyun merely shrugged and wouldn’t answer. He did, however, help Luhan to retie Xiumin’s hands behind his back, and was otherwise unconcerned that he was in the presence of a big bad apostate. 

Then Xiumin remembered something. “Where’s my dog?” he demanded to no one in particular.

“Your dog?” asked Baekhyun stupidly. Then his eyes dawned in realization. “Oh. Oh! So that’s your dog? He came for a visit earlier. Already best buds with Chanyeol. But wait. If you're a prisoner, then why is your dog happily shepherding you and your capturer along the highway?”

Xiumin rolled his eyes. 

“It’s a long story,” said Luhan instead.

“Oh, I hope you’ll tell me!” cried Baekhyun. “I love a good story.”


	2. Don't Mind the Lady

Luhan expected to encounter a large party of travelers, given that Baekhyun claimed they'd taken down the whole bandit raiding party. (“What you saw were just those who tried to run away! _As if_ .”) What they found instead was only a small caravan made up of three men including Baekhyun, and one horribly ugly young woman. Luhan tried not to stare, but on second glance he altered his impression and decided the lady wasn't actually ugly, it was just her expression that was. She had long blond hair that looked a little worse for traveling, an ill-fitting blue dress, and the meanest looking scowl on her face. There were twigs in her hair and dirt on her gown and big feet encased in stupid looking leather shoes, and she frowned at everybody as if the world was out to get her, which it probably was. She looked of noble birth, and Luhan didn't know a single noble lady who would enjoy the great outdoors like this, especially when sitting against a damp tree and drinking water out of a flask that three other sweaty men were also probably drinking out of. And who knew how long they'd been on the road.

So this was an escort party, Luhan concluded. Although he had apparently been staring at her too long, because after a few moments the woman seemed to positively growl at him, and Xiumin — somehow more gentlemanly than Luhan — kicked Luhan's ankles as if to remind him of his position. Baekhyun followed Luhan's gaze to the lady and then back again, noting in particular the templar's chastised demeanor.

“Ignore the.. err.. lady,” he said off-handedly. “She's just a bit grouchy. But here, let me introduce you to the rest of the party!”

The rest of the party turned out to be a shield warrior by the name of Jongin who glanced up at the newcomers and inclined his head in a rough, callous greeting before turning away to continue wiping down his sword. It looked clean already but now it was starting to shine from all Jongin’s lathering and attention to detail. Even the grooves in his jeweled handle were spotless. It seemed he was dead serious about his weapons, and Luhan guessed this wasn't a person to cross lightly. 

The other warrior was a giant of a man named Chanyeol with a long two-handed sword harnessed to his back, a broad smile, large ears, and a dog across his lap. A mabari hound to be exact. Alistair to be exact _er,_  although the dog wasn't making Chanyeol's current task-at-hand any easier. It slobbered on his lap and nudged him for pets and only when Xiumin whistled angrily for him to come did the animal lazily get up and trot over to its actual master.

Chanyeol cried out happily now that he could get back to business. He sat on a stump and around his feet was an assortment of piles of loot, most of which looked like it had come off the backs of dead bandits.

“Okay, final count - here it comes! We have... three common daggers. Four pieces of iron. A silver emblem with... absolutely nothing interesting about it. One shield, or at least only one that isn't totally dented in from where you bashed it — Hey, Jongin, how good is your shield? Is this one better? You want to come check it out?”

“No, thank you,” said the other warrior. Jongin didn't even bother to look up. 

“Did you at least salvage any good arrows for me?” Baekhyun inquired as he trotted over to inspect the goods. 

Chanyeol shook his head. “Nope. Their stuff was pretty cheap. It splinters when you just look at it, and I know how particular you are about using only the best — I learned  _that_ the hard way — I do have a medium armor helmet you could try on for size though. Also... a mage cowl charmed with some kind of enchantment but I don't know how to tell what it is, and... oh!” He looked up as if just remembering the introductions from a minute ago. “Oh! That’s right. We have a mage now. Excellent! He can wear this then! I've also got a staff too. Not a great one, mind, but you're welcome to use it.”

Luhan choked back a retort. However, Xiumin chuckled, winked at Luhan, and playfully held up his arms as if to receive the weapon. Only his fingers opened wide, since his wrists were still bound. Chanyeol just looked confused, but he stood up as if to approach the bound mage and took one step closer like he was under a trance. 

“Can you... do you want it?” he asked Xiumin, even in the face of Luhan's growing alarm. The mage smiled, positively twinkled, and Luhan experienced a strange feeling in his gut. It was fear, he told himself. It couldn't be anything but. And that finally induced him to speak.

“Excuse me, but this mage is in my custody, he is bound for the Circle, and he is absolutely not allowed any weaponry of any kind!” 

Xiumin pouted. Chanyeol pouted.

“You mean he's a bad mage?” the tall warrior asked. Luhan nodded uncertainly. “Apostate? Maleficar? Does he do...  _blood magic_?” Suddenly even Chanyeol looked frightened.

“I don'y do blood magic,” Xiumin sighed and rolled his eyes. Chanyeol looked a little relieved. From the other end of the clearing, the woman was finally paying them attention, and also Jongin had finished with his sword. He sheathed it in a loud display and observed them mutely. Everyone was waiting for an explanation, Luhan realized. As if he was the one who’d done something horrible by tying up such an adorable looking mage. 

“He's my prisoner, so just... don't... he's not... don't give him anything… without going through me first,” Luhan stuttered, and then he cringed. Did he really just consider Xiumin adorable?

Baekhyun smirked finally and gave a good, dramatic shrug, totally unconcerned with the whole situation. He hadn’t even batted an eyelash at the possibility of bringing in a rogue apostate mage. “I found them cuddling so I'm thinking he's not all  _that_  bad.”

Luhan's face turned red. He didn't have a mirror, but he knew it must be red from the way his cheeks suddenly burned warm. Xiumin didn't say anything, but the elf continued anyways. 

“And apparently the dog belongs to the mage, and it's fine with its owner being lead away, seeing as how it didn't attack the templar when called to do so.” Baekhyun smiled.

Chanyeol nodded at this, mouth hanging open. “Oh. Oh, okay then. Maybe the dog just has good taste in people then?” he proposed.

“Clearly not,” said Baekhyun. “Since it adores you!” He tilted his head back and laughed loudly, but his words had incited a string of back-and-forth insults between the two individuals which grew exceedingly more heinous as they continued — if one considered the worst thing Baekhyun could do was accusing Chanyeol of being an elf. The human went into a glorious fit after that, covering his large ears with his hands as he frankly denied it.

“Excellent discernment, indeed,” scoffed Xiumin under his breath, and even though it was directed at the warrior, Luhan took vague offense to that. Alistair had after all come to accept him too. 

Xiumin and Luhan stood side by side, watching the match wide-eyed without having anything to inject. The two squabbled with all the fury of two like-minded strangers; familiar enough to know what hurt, fresh enough to throw new and unused insults. It continued seemingly without end until finally Jongin, who they'd almost forgotten existed, stood up and drew his sword in a fierce clashing of steel against steel. The sound echoed across the clearing making Luhan’s teeth screech, but it did to catch their attention. 

“Battle mode!” Chanyeol froze and cried suddenly, pulling his weapon.

“To arms!” charged Baekhyun just as quickly and he drew out his weapon. They fumbled in their haste but then hunkered together back to back, their bodies on the defense, alert for every possible movement as they scanned the area around them. “Where are they! Where are they?!” cried the elf, fitting an arrow to his bow. 

And still Luhan and Xiumin stood silently next to each other, heads tilted identically parallel. Alistair yawned loudly, stretched, and sunk to his belly, and the lady just pulled at her blond locks in a bored manner. 

“Jongin, I don't see anyone!” said Chanyeol, ever wary.

The hardened warrior — although Luhan noticed now that he was still exceedingly young looking — trudged over to them in a menacing fashion. 

“Jongin?” said Chanyeol, now more confused than ever. “Are… we under attack? I don’t see any attackers…”

“That’s because... there aren’t any,” said the stoic warrior, glaring between Chanyeol and Baekhyun. His eyes narrowed as he spoke, slowly and deeply. “I drew my sword to make you two quit squabbling. You're loud and upsetting the peace of the forest, and if anyone  _is_ after us, they'll hear us for ages, so shut it, will you?  _Or I will_.”

It took several moments for Chanyeol and Baekhyun to realize they'd been played — played, not threatened — and they lowered their weapons finally in joint embarrassment. Chanyeol shook it off by taking his seat again, and he pointedly ignored Baekhyun as he opened up scroll after scroll of requisitions list, tallying things up against their acquired loot. 

“Why were these guys even carrying halla leather?” he muttered once, almost under his breath. “And where in Thedas* do people find phoenix feathers? Who’d even want to kill a phoenix?” After a few minutes of this, he seemed to jump tracks and remembered their breakfast, simmering above a fire in a trench behind him. Remembering their guests too, he glanced up with a roasted potato in each hand and decided to ask Luhan first, “Hey, is it alright if I feed it?”

“Feed what. The dog?” Luhan asked in return.

“No, the mage.”

The  _mage?_   _It?_  Luhan fumed, slowly and silently. “ _His_  name is Xiumin, and... sure you can feed him. And me, if you have any leftovers.” They were both rather hungry after all, since Baekhyun had interrupted their second morning together.

 

 

 

 

By mid-morning they were ready to go. Jongin helped the lady climb onto one of the only two horses they had, and it was a clunky affair just doing that. Luhan tried not to watch as the lady figured out how to sit side-saddle, and he’d never seen her scowl harder. Chanyeol loaded up the spare horse with saddle bags after spending an age deciding what of their loot to take and what to drop. Baekhyun stood around with his bow in his hand impatiently bouncing on his heels and then they were off.

Luhan had conferred briefly with Jongin about their route since the warrior appeared to be their best leader, but other than determining which direction they were riding — north, northwest — Luhan couldn’t get anything more out of him. 

“Something seems weird with this party,” said Luhan to Xiumin as they made up the rear of the escort. 

“Weird, how?”

“I don’t know…” he admitted. “But something’s off.”

“I’d say it starts with that girl,” said Xiumin. 

They were walking side by side, Alistair doing his normal round-about trotting. Ahead of the saddle horse, the blond-haired lady bobbled uncomfortably on her perch, almost falling off one or two times when the horse maneuvered over fallen trees on the path.

“I think you may be right,” said Luhan. “What kind of noble lady can’t ride side-saddle?” 

“One who’s possibly not a—”

“Wolves ahead!” cried Chanyeol loudly. Luhan couldn’t see them but he heard them. He also heard the steel of Jongin's and Chanyeol’s swords, the pews of an arrow, and knew he needed to assist. 

“Stick to the horses, and don’t you dare run off!” he directed Xiumin hastily before flying forward, shield before him. 

They made short work of the beasts. Three swordsmen, a bowman and a hound even larger than the wolves themselves saw to that just fine. Only the horses seemed all that nervous having wolves underfoot, and by the time the warriors trudged back to where they'd scampered — Xiumin leaning by a tree, bored —  the lady was having some difficulty controlling her horse. Jongin grabbed the reigns and quickly calmed the animal, and Baekhyun sent the woman an almost scathing look of incompetence. Chanyeol merely looked on with something akin to pity before he ran after the other pack horse. 

“You were saying something?” Luhan said to the mage when he returned to his side. Xiumin looked terribly amused at the whole thing, however, and he didn't seem to be paying Luhan any mind. Instead he began scratching against the tree like a bear and didn’t look up until Luhan questioned him. “What's the matter. Got an itch?” Luhan asked. Xiumin finally looked at him, a smile beginning to etch across his face.

“Well, obviously. I've got my hands tied. How else do you expect me to scratch my back? Unless you'd like to do the honors??”

Luhan observed him warmly, especially the expanse of arm muscle and the markings along his biceps. The thought of touching the mage, however, seemed suddenly too personal. “Why would I scratch your back?” he said instead.

Xiumin shrugged. “I don't know? Maybe for good behavior since I didn't run off?” And then he smiled and Luhan was nearly a goner. 

“Hey, lovebirds, you ready to go again?” called Baekhyun from off in the distance. Luhan groaned, but it did save him from a possibly harrowing ordeal.

Back at the front of the party Chanyeol had captured the second horse and was now engaged in a debate with Jongin about whether he could skin the wolves before they moved on. 

“You want to do that  _now_?” said the shorter warrior, calmly indignant. “We are traveling. Kill wolves for leather some other day. I care little for whatever requisition orders you picked up in Denerim.  _We_  have a job to do, and that is to escort the young lo-  _lady_  to…” he quietened as Luhan and Xiumin approached, “to our destination in a timely manner. So let’s go.” 

“As you say, then,” Chanyeol agreed, chastised. 

“Hey, cheer up,” Xiumin piped in. “If we find some wolves for you to slaughter tonight near our next campsite, perhaps the templar will spare me a knife and I can help you out. With two people we could do it in double time! I’m really good with skinning.”

He glanced at Luhan as if to goad him, but the templar refused to even acknowledge he’d spoken. Instead, he focused on the surrounding forest which, since the path they walked had finally run into a fork of the Imperial Highway, the treeline was thus pushed farther from the road. A few rundown pillars marked what used to be a grander highway, but all that was from ancient days. In any case, it was mostly easy walking, and the weather had been cool and pleasant for weeks. If they made good time then it would be less than a week before Luhan would need to separate from their very strange party and take a more northernly approach to the Circle Tower. What the templars and tower mages would do with Xiumin then, Luhan did not know, but he was sure it wouldn’t be anything terribly bad. Worst come to worst, they would bump into each other every so often and Xiumin might hiss at him for taking him away from his lovely dump of a shack out in the sticks and mud. 

He had to wonder about their new traveling companions though. The silent warrior, the lanky two-handed giant (although real giants were probably three or four bodies taller even than Chanyeol), and the elf archer didn’t seem all that bad. The lady, however, was something else. There was a big secret here that he was deliberately being kept out of, and although it wasn’t any of his business, he had to worry at least somewhat. Small parties out on the highway, even with a good soldier escort, often did end up missing, or likely dead, depending on what they were carrying, or who they were carrying. The mystery of the noble lady only heightened Luhan’s senses that it might be a secret they could be attacked for. Or end up dead for. Luhan was happy to travel alongside fellow swordsmen, but he had a purpose and that was only to keep his mage alive and in custody until he reached his own destination.

Not to mention, ladies of such birth were rarely seen out in the wilds, therefore the party was doubly susceptible to bandit attacks. If they were to come upon a party that was even twice as big as the raiders they’d seen yesterday, four men and a dog were hardly going to be enough to repel them. 

Then there was the fact that Baekhyun would at least once every hour hang back from the party to check on their rear. He was scouting for something, keeping an eye out for something, and it wasn’t bandits, of that Luhan was starting to realize. What was it Baekhyun had said when they first met? That they — he and Xiumin —weren’t bandits, yes. But that something had been following them and  _they weren’t it._

Not who.  _It_ . It was enough to scare Luhan into always keeping his sword arm free, and every time Baekhyun reemerged from the forest behind them, either from the right or the left, Luhan examined his face for any sign that Baekhyun was worried. The elf, however, kept a passive expression. Luhan would worry if that ever changed.

They stopped around midday to rest their feet, eat some food, and let the lady take a private moment out in the bushes. Luhan thought it was weird that Chanyeol would accompany her just out of eyeshot, but then if she was important to somebody, it would imply she needed a full-time bodyguard, however unseemly it was.

He and Xiumin remained together while they waited, Luhan crossing his legs quaintly around his robes. The mage plopped down with far less grace since he couldn’t use his hands, and he then proceeded to stretch out on his back in the dirt. He closed his eyes and sighed happily. 

“Taking a nap, are you?” said Baekhyun, who had come by to share a bit of their food. 

“Mmmm,” grunted the mage affirmatively.

Baekhyun shook his head, amused. “I really don’t get you two. What kind of apostate lets himself get captured like this anyways?”

“One who’s got a rebel dog,” Xiumin supplied, eyes still closed, although he smiled upon maneuvering a bit until he his head laid under some shade. 

He wasn’t looking at either of them, and so Baekhyun inquired silently of Luhan the same question. Luhan only shrugged. That was the truth after all, wasn’t it?

“Seems to me like you could easily get yourself free. And yet here you are walking meekly to your doom.” The elf was definitely no help in this situation.

“I’d be grateful if you don’t give him ideas,” Luhan warned gruffly.

“What? I’m just saying. How tight are those knots anyways?” He reached over to play with Xiumin’s hands and Luhan practically growled. 

“Very tight,” he said firmly. “I  _am_  an expert at knots, I’ll have you know.” 

The scout smirked, commenting quickly, “Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself. Anyways, Xiumin, if you ever feel like setting yourself free,  _I_ am very good at undoing knots!” He winked cheekily, completely uncaring of Luhan’s murderous stare.

“How dare you!” the templar cried. “Touch his hands and I’ll have your head!”

“Ooooh, someone sounds possessive now.”

Luhan really wasn’t going to win with this one. He huffed and turned his head away, drawing his knees up indignantly to his chest. After a few moments of Xiumin giggling, however, he whipped his head back to make sure Baekhyun wasn’t trying anything funny. The elf had moved on though from his fun and games, and Xiumin was only smiling to himself, hands still firmly encased in leather bindings.  Jongin had merely observed the entire scene passively. 

And soon Chanyeol was back with his charge, the lady looking just as grumpy as ever. She didn’t bother to look at either Luhan or Xiumin, barely even looked at Baekhyun, but she did tip her head angrily at Jongin, indicating that they should be moving again. It seems she did call at least some of the shots around here, although Luhan realized he hadn’t actually heard her speak yet. That was odd.

Chanyeol rushed to get her on her horse, and the same scene as earlier occurred with the woman trying to find her balance side-saddle. Xiumin sat up for this and watched intently, a squint to his eyes, and suddenly Luhan found himself paying even more attention. She had a long, strong jaw that wasn’t exactly feminine, hands too long and bony to be considered delicately pretty, and then there was the matter of her mostly flat chest. He knew he shouldn’t be staring, but it all made sense the moment her flat butt slipped off the saddle, and Chanyeol rushed to catch her, and out came a very unmanly shriek, and yet... The tall warrior caught her firmly, arms and legs flinging in a mess of blue garments, but gravity had a hold of her golden locks, her hair, her… wig? 

“Ahhh,” murmured Xiumin, unsurprised. Luhan gaped. 

_He_ … stopped squirming the moment Chanyeol dropped his feet to the ground, and the whole clearing froze in mixed shock, embarrassment, defeat and despair. Before them stood a very pretty looking, but very  _male_  young lord. He looked almost relieved for someone caught accidentally mashing his own wig into the dirt. Chanyeol’s face opened in a wide ohhh, Jongin looked annoyed, and Baekhyun actually snorted. 

“Oops,” said the elf. “Guess that’s one secret we don’t have to worry about anymore.”


	3. Is It the Messenger?

His name was Sehun, and he was the third- or fourth-born son of a Ferelden lord. Beyond that Luhan couldn’t get them to say anymore, and that was definitely the most suspicious thing, second only to transporting a noble boy of barely twenty years age across the wilds in drag.

“Why’d you dress him as a girl!?” was Luhan’s first implosive question. He wasn’t anybody Luhan recognized by name, and being so far down the list of sons to possibly inherit an arling, there was something else going on here. 

“Look,” Chanyeol tried to explain. “It’s just… safer for us this way. You know, throws people off if they’re looking for a boy out on these roads.”

“So, there  _are_  people looking for him? What!? Why?” Luhan cried. He just knew he and Xiumin picked the wrong party to caravan up with. Now they were in danger, and Xiumin would never get to see the insides of that nice, cozy Circle Tower.

“We don’t  _know_  somebody is looking for him,” said Chanyeol again. Jongin still looked pretty put-out with the whole situation.

“You can’t tell me that,” Luhan argued. “If nobody is after him, whoever he is, then why has Baekhyun been dropping back to check the road so suspiciously — and by the way, great going putting a man in a dress and putting him up on a horse. Because  _that_  isn’t a target at all if some bandit decides he’d like a nice, pretty skirt to hole up with for a fortnight.”

At this, the boy was starting to pale, but at least he didn’t look so snarky anymore. He was more upset than anything else, now that Luhan was starting to poke holes in the entire reason he’d been dressed like a dame. 

“W-Well… well…” Chanyeol stuttered. “At least they wouldn’t know he was a boy?” He looked uncertain though.

“I knew he was a boy right away,” said Xiumin matter-of-factly. He tipped his head and stared at them all smugly. 

“Uhh, uhm…” Chanyeol continued to stumble over his words. “It was… Baekhyun’s idea?”

The elf huffed and threw his hands up into the air. “Oh, blame me now. You thought it was a good idea too, don’t lie.”

“So who is he then?” Luhan demanded. 

“What? Why do you need to know?” asked Chanyeol, once again on the defensive.

“I just need to know how dangerous it is for me, being out here with people like you, and if I need to depart sooner rather than later.”

“How do we know  _you_  aren’t here to harm him then?” Chanyeol demanded.

“Because I don’t even know who he is?” cried Luhan in shock.

“Yeah, but you could just be saying that…”

“Hey…” said the boy, but nobody paid him any mind.

The usually silent warrior strode forward to intervene. “Look, Luhan. It is Luhan, right?” Jongin inquired, and the templar nodded, happy finally to be talking with someone who looked like he had a bit of sense. “Alright then. It’s just precautionary. N-nobody is after him, we just like to be safe.”

“Okay then,” Xiumin interjected. “So tell us what it is that’s been following us?”

“What?” 

“What!” Jongin and Chanyeol both cried.

“Uhmmmm,” said Sehun.

Luhan was paying the mage plenty of attention now, but then so was Baekhyun. The scout bounded towards Xiumin with his finger pointing outstretched behind them. “You. You feel it too? Something is definitely out there, right? Right? I’m not the only crazy person here?!” 

“Your last statement is questionable, but… I do feel… something… Perhaps. I can almost sense it. I don’t know what, but something is following us. And I didn’t feel its presence until after we met. Which means it’s following you.”

“I know. I’ve sensed something for well over a week, and we only left Denerim three weeks ago,” Baekhyun confirmed it.

“It’s been that long, and you’re only  _now_ telling us?” Jongin was upset. 

“I… mentioned it.”

Jongin furrowed his nose, well on his way to becoming furious. “You just said you were checking for tails.”

“Guys,” said Sehun again, still to no response.

“This is crazy,” said Luhan, more to himself now because everybody else in their party was now arguing with one another. Everyone except Alistair who was now resting on his haunches by Luhan’s feet. He pet the animal while Jongin and Baekhyun argued about the chain of command and when was the proper time for Baekhyun to be sharing important information with the rest of the escort. 

“I just can’t figure out what it  _is_ ,” Baekhyun spoke again to Xiumin, cutting short the rest of the communication. This question seemed to bother him a whole lot more.

“How do you know it’s an it?” asked Chanyeol in an almost whining, scared tone. “Why an it, and not a who? We’ve run across a lot of who’s recently. Aren’t you exaggerating something here?”

“Guys?” said the boy.

“Hush, I’m trying to think,” Baekhyun silenced them both. He placed his fingers to his head, as if that would clear his mind faster. It was no good, however. “Bleeding thorns! Luhan, can’t you untie the mage and give him a stick. We need someone like him on our side.”

“I still don’t know what side we’re talking about, and no!” said the templar self-righteously. 

“It’s not a stick. It’s called a staff, and yes I would like one actually.” Xiumin rolled his eyes.

“Well, you’re not getting one!” Luhan would put his foot down for this one. 

“Why not?”

“Guys, can I…”

“Because we are not getting involved with this, with  _them_ ,  _and_ because I said so!” cried the templar.

“What? Oh come on, Luhan,” Xiumin whined. 

“No! No, no, and no. We are leaving this party as soon as possible, and that’s final. Besides, we don’t know what’s out there, and we don’t even know who this kid is, really, so  _no_.”

“You’ve said that already.”

“And, I’ll keep saying it.” Luhan turned to the rest of the party then and pointed an accusatory finger. “If you aren’t going to share anything with us, then fine, but I’m not joining into this like a blind man.”

“Oh, so you’ll stay if they give you some answers? Is that it?” inquired Xiumin.

“Yes! I mean, no!”

“Can I say something?” said Sehun, sounding more exasperated. 

“Look,” said Jongin again. “We really don’t have time for this. Can we please at least get back on the road, you and your mage can happily take the next fork away and we’ll all be happy—“

“Oh, Can I PLEASE SAY SOMETHING!?”

Everybody stopped to stare at the boy whose life may or may not be in danger, but whom nobody had given even a moment’s glance since the moment his wig dropped to the ground. Luhan noted now that his hair was a sandy brownish color, and he looked very handsome for a boy. He already had the regal haughtiness of minor nobility too, and Luhan recognized it only because he had it himself. Before anyone could interject though, the young lord started to speak, enunciating everything in clipped upper class accent, one that bespoke volumes of a legacy of ordering about servants, peasants, peons, and the like. 

“My name is Sehun, and I’m the fourth son and  _bastard!_  to the Arl* of West Hills. I’ve lived with my mother east of Denerim all my life, and now my  _father_  is fetching me home for whatever ridiculous reason. Chanyeol soldiered for my mother’s family, Baekhyun is hired out of the Denerim alienage, and Jongin is my father’s 'trusty' sword and shield. So there now, are you happy?  _Now_  can we get a move on? Because just sitting here is getting us nowhere, and  _oh_ — can I  _please_ , take off this infernal dress. Finally? Thank. You.” 

It took a while for Luhan to process it all, and for Jongin, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun to realize their super secret was now really a sham. Xiumin nodded happily, however, and for some reason Luhan seemed to like his confidence, and he shared in it. Luhan had asked for answers after all. 

“Fine. We’ll travel with you a little farther,” he agreed at long last. “Just as far as the road to the Circle Tower.”

“That’s… that’s fine,” Jongin agreed. 

Even Baekhyun relaxed a bit. “Sounds good to me. Anyways, Chanyeol? Don’t you... have some clothes for the lordling?  _Male_  clothes? We wouldn’t want him running around naked after all. Now that would  _definitely_  make us a noticeable target. Look at all that pale skin on his arms. Boy probably shines like a beacon in the middle of the night.”

Everybody rolled their eyes for that one, but at least the confrontation part was over. 

Now they just had to solve what it was that was tailing a party containing only the fourth born son of minor nobility, and Luhan didn’t think that particular mystery would be any easier to figure out. He almost considered letting Xiumin become part of a proper defense circuit, but then… they weren’t that desperate yet. Were they? 

 

 

 

 

"You know, there's definitely something else they're not telling us," Xiumin whispered to Luhan later that day. The young lord was once again on horseback ahead of them, riding astride finally as was his custom. Baekhyun was making his hourly fall-back, and Jongin and Chanyeol were actually conversing nicely together at the front of the line. 

"What is it?" asked Luhan. He wasn't sure when he and his prisoner had fallen into cahoots together over the mystery of their traveling buddies, but it had happened regardless. The mage was also more than unusually observant too, and that helped Luhan to  _want_  to hear his theories.

"They said they came from Denerim," stated Xiumin plainly.

"Yes, east of Denerim."

"But Denerim is in the northeast part of Ferelden. If they were making their way directly to West Hills arling, there's a much straighter path along the West Road from Denerim to Redcliffe, from which West Hills isn't far. What I'm curious about is why are they this far south? They're halfway to Ostagar which means they've been taking an offbeaten southernly route, but there's no reason they should be in these parts, unless they went somewhere else first..."

"Or, unless they're avoiding the main roads for the same reason they were trying to hide the kid's identity."

"Why risk the forests though? The wilds?" Xiumin wondered out loud. "Why not send him with a bigger escort and just travel in haste?"

They were all good questions, but Luhan thought it unlikely anyone would answer them if he were to ask. Perhaps Sehun, if he was irritated correctly, but then the templar wasn't typically in the habit of harrassing lords, or their sons, bastard or otherwise. And definitely not if their fathers seemed to have important plans for them. He decided to let the matter sit, and advised Xiumin to the same.

"It's none of our business," he restated again, trying to fortify himself.

The mage shrugged, but Luhan knew he would continue to dwell on it anyways, and he couldn't really blame Xiumin. He himself was still vaguely curious what the party was about. The sooner they went their separate ways, however, the better it would be. For Luhan's piece of mind, most importantly. 

In any case, nothing was revealed for the rest of that day, and that night when they stopped to rest the most pressing matter they had to discuss was where everyone would sleep. They set up camp between two ruined pillars and lit a fire, swapped meat and dried food, and Luhan definitely didn't allow Xiumin a knife to help skin the ram Chanyeol and Baekhyun managed to hunt down.

"Perhaps we should set up a nightly watch?" Luhan suggested before everyone went to sleep. Both warriors and the elf agreed and Sehun didn't look at anybody. Luhan volunteered to go first. "Stay up with me?" he told the mage.

Xiumin squinted at him questioningly. "Are you asking me? I thought you were the one who liked being in control around here. If you want me to keep watch with you, you just have to say it," he teased calmly. Luhan almost flushed but he controlled it.

"I just don't know what we're even looking out for..." he admitted a little while later. Xiumin had taken his hint without further say on matter and stayed awake.

"What we're looking out for...? Who knows. Isn't that why we're still awake though? Perhaps it's a mage like me? Are you scared?" Xiumin wiggled his eyebrows. 

It only made Luhan look away and not want to answer. It's not like any of them had real answers anyways and also, none were provided that night. The mage was already listing towards sleep when Luhan woke up Chanyeol for second watch. Just to make sure nothing happened from within their group, however, Luhan kept Xiumin between him and Chanyeol, again with a tie linked to his wrist. On the other side of the fire slept Sehun, then Baekhyun and Jongin, and when they woke up the next morning Sehun had rolled away a few feet and Baekhyun was completely snuggling the silent warrior. Jongin shook him off in an aggravated manner while Luhan reaffixed Xiumin's wrist ties, and they wasted very little time before getting back on the road. 

 

 

 

The next day was duller than the previous, although they did pass by a few south-bound travelers including several families returning home from Redcliffe, a small contingency of soldiers headed for Ostagar, and one heavily guarded merchant caravan lead by a particularly grumpy squad of dwarves.* 

"Keep yoor eyes open ahead," one of them warned Jongin as he passed by, his dwarven accent thick even after years of surface-dwelling. "Seems the Carta* have gotten even less lawful up here since the Blight. Think they're so important for the trade back in Orzammar that they no longer leave even us surfacers alone to work in peace. Paragons have mercy! But I hope someone reigns them in one day."

They were gone before Jongin could even thank them for the warning, but they saw no more dwarves that day, either law-abiding merchants or smugglers from the notorious crime syndicate from the last great dwarven thaig, Orzammar, deep beneath the Frostback Mountains. Not even the recent transition of kingly authority down there had put a stop to the Carta's activities completely. 

"I heard they've been getting more brazen these days," Chanyeol mentioned during a brief rest stop. "More on the surface now. Rumors even that they've been infiltrating the city of Kirkwall."

"That's far from us," said Jongin solemnly. "No need to worry about politics. Let's just do as the dwarf said and keep our eyes open."

Before dusk the party received a minor scare in the form of dual riders coming up from the south. They quickly pushed off the path to prepare for the worst, but it was only a couple royal messengers on horseback. They didn't bother acknowledging the slower travelers, and soon their horses' hoofbeats were long passed, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Out here, only bandits and messengers rode horses so fast, and you could never be sure which ones you'd meet. 

They met another one, however, later that evening while they all sat around the campfire. Alistair barked once in warning as a horse and rider approached their party, but when the solo man in a messenger's uniform halted nearby, the dog wagged his tail and Jongin and Chanyeol went to begin the interrogation.

"Are you traveling to Redcliffe?" said the exhausted messenger. His horse, as they realized up close, was halfway lame. An arrow injury to one of its hind legs and it was already limping badly. 

"Depends on who's asking," Jongin replied gravely.

"Jongdae. King's messenger Jongdae. As you see, I've had an accident on the road. Bandits from a day or so ago. I tried to mend the wound but now it's festering. I fear she won't make it farther."

"It's kindest to put her down," said Chanyeol sadly, inspecting the animal.

Jongdae slid off and retrieved his pouch. He patted the beast apologetically. "So I've realized just this evening. However, I saw light up ahead and hoped you'd be friendly. If I could just get this far... No man wants to travel these woods alone and afoot. Have you eaten supper yet? I have some victuals to share."

He seemed friendly enough, and since Alistair didn't immediately attack him, Jongin let him stay. "You're welcome to travel with us for a while. We'll reach Redcliffe in under a week. Try anything funny, however, and Baekhyun over there will put an arrow in your neck." 

The archer chirped happily, looking anything but menacing, and yet Luhan wouldn't put it past him place an arrow wherever he damn well pleased, if somebody deserved it enough. 

"Hello, hello," said the messenger cheerfully when he was introduced to everyone else. Sehun showed no interest in him whatsoever and so it turned to Luhan and Xiumin to entertain their new guest. "Oh, you've got a mage there!" Jongdae observed then Xiumin's bound hands. "A mage who is... oh, I see... an apostate perhaps?" 

"Apparently so," Xiumin piped in. He was doing his usual thing in the dirt, legs sprawled out before him as he sat up, bound hands gripping a piece of charred meat for his dinner. Luhan wished he wouldn't make himself so cute, because everybody was surely getting the wrong impression of him. No one would believe Luhan now if he tried to explain that the mage was actually skilled alchemist who had affectively drugged and bound a templar. A templar! The nerve of it all. And he hadn't even seen what the mage might be capable of given a proper mage's staff. It was too much to contemplate, that thought. He hoped he'd never be tested. 

"A templar and an apostate, and... seems the rest of you are an escort?" Jongdae inquired, eyeing Sehun again with some interest.

Luhan took satisfaction that nobody would answer him properly, even if the boy was now without his girl's disguise. 

"Well, anyways, we are well-met, whatever the situation," said the messenger with a spark in his eye. "Happy traveling?"

They made him sleep by himself a few feet from the fire, and Jongin kept an eye on him regardless. Before sleeping, however, Xiumin turned to Luhan and whispered something into his ear. "Heads up. There's something off with that man too."

Luhan's brow furrowed, even in his near sleepy state. "You always think something's off. Is all of Thedas off, or aren't you always a little too paranoid?"

The mage huffed and refused to reply, however, he did turn over under his blanket so that his back was to Luhan, and since Luhan still hadn't given up tying himself to Xiumin during the night, that meant pulling Luhan's left hand forward. It rested on Xiumin's shoulder and Luhan was too tired to do anything about it. He'd be happy once they returned to the Tower, and he could finally sleep on a real bed with real blankets and a real pillow, and if he went to sleep that night dreaming about a warm body to share it with him, it definitely wasn't his fault. It was cold in the night, and the mage was warm. 


	4. All Our Secrets on the Road

Sehun woke up the next morning in very much the same manner as he’d been waking up for three weeks:  _he was miserable_. The forest ground was a lumpy mess of dirt, rocks and tree roots, his blanket scratchy, his hair covered in weeds, and probably bugs, but at least he didn’t have to deal with that stupid blond wig anymore. He’d never forgive Chanyeol and Baekhyun for making him wear it, although if they managed to keep him alive until they reached West Hills, he might consider thanking them very briefly, before he had their heads. Figuratively of course. He wouldn’t really be capable of beheading somebody, even if he had the authority to do it. Sehun hadn’t held a real weapon in his hands since… ever. So what if his soon-to-be-met half-brothers had been raised like most proper noblemen’s offspring, with a sword in their hands. Sehun was just a bastard and even though his mother was of noble birth and his grandfather’s family was wealthy, society would hardly expect a child born out of wedlock to amount to anything important. He lived as pampered as his chastised (though still spirited) mother dared to raise him, and that was all fine with Sehun anyways. Let lesser mortals deal with the rougher things in life.

He never expected there to come a day when he’d actually be sent for by his father, a lord he’d never met, and had hardly ever thought about. It was downright upsetting when for all of Sehun’s life he’d harbored this mediocre plan to live as nicely and cozily as he could possibly make himself. No one taught him weaponry, but then why would he want to sweat? Nobody coached him on politics, because a bastard didn’t need to know it. He did study history, as every gently born boy was expected to know, and therefore he'd spent most of his days with a learned tutor employed by his grandfather. There had been recent talks that the new Queen of Ferelden was to establish a university soon in Denerim. If nothing else, Sehun thought of passing for a scholar. Not that he truly loved histories and academics, but it was better than having to enter the Chantry. Sehun didn’t want to be a monk…

From this fate at least it seemed he would be spared. His  _father_  wanted him home. The word stuck in his throat just as awkwardly today as when his mother joyfully told him he was to travel to West Hills posthaste. 

_“Your oldest half-brother died in the Blight, your second half-brother had a dueling accident and now lays on the cusp of death,”_ his mother had informed him gleefully, the messenger’s letter waving from her hand.

_“And the third?”_  Sehun had inquired with as much interest as he could muster. It wasn’t much.

_ “A severe illness? Who knows if he shall make it through.” _

With one brother dead and the other two dangling before their Maker, Sehun was the back-up plan. He could end up becoming Arl at this rate, if everything his mother said was true. It seemed his father really loved him. Or rather, he loved the idea of there being an heir at West Hills, bastard or otherwise.  _If_  Sehun made it there alive.

He’d happened to hear one other conversation between his father’s sent man, Jongin, in a secret council with Sehun’s mother and grandfather. 

_ “The Arl has not ruled out that his second son’s dueling accident wasn’t specifically spurred on by a third party… or that the illness of the other son is just some… random malady.” _

His grandfather had hummed at that.  _“So you imply that the Arl’s cousin’s family is being just as underhanded as ever? Inbred whoresons. Always conniving for the highest title they can get their sneaky little rodent hands on! Jongin, my boy, I expect you to keep my grandson safe out there on the road. He can’t fight!”_  he’d added as a last minute thought, voice warbling with old age. 

“ _Your lordship, I am the Arl’s best shield, sent to fetch and protect your grandson from all harm. I only ask that you supply us with a few good soldiers for the road. We’ll travel light and speedily._ ” 

That was how they ended up with Chanyeol, a family retainer who'd grown up around the barracks and was more than handy with a greatsword. They hired Baekhyun out of Denerim, although he apparently hadn’t been there long. City elves weren’t usually so good with weapons or so comfortable out in the world like Baekhyun was, but he came highly recommended. Sehun didn’t like either of them very much, especially after Jongin let them go ahead with their plans for putting Sehun in a dress. At least that was over with.

His butt was pretty much flat and hurting now, after spending so much time on horseback. Sehun almost wanted to test out his luck on foot, but then he’d probably end up with sore feet  _and_  a sore butt. The sooner they got to Redcliffe the sooner he could sleep in a real bed for a night, and then West Hills wasn’t far off from there. 

He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but the thought of reaching the city was more and more appealing, especially after Baekhyun and the mage’s revelation about something being on their tail. Whatever  _it_  was, following them, tailing them, the city walls would keep it out, right? He wanted to ask the mage, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, if there even was one. Perhaps some things could after all be left to the Fade realm of dreams and nightmares. If they actually talked about it in daylight, it became real. Assassins became real. Sehun just wanted a good place to sleep at night, some servants to order around to make him feel better about himself; and if his grandfather would send him a thirty-year-old bottle of  _Mackay’s Epic Single Malt_  or  _Vint-9 Rowan’s Rose_  on his birthday every now and then, he’d be set for life. 

He didn’t want to become the next target in the night, just because he  _might_ be forced to inherit an arling.

“You’re looking tired up there,” said a voice from below. 

Sehun looked down and scowled at the King’s messenger Jongdae. He didn’t really like the guy. He thought he was strangely _too_ nice,  _too_  cheerful. Also, he dared to speak to Sehun directly as no mere commoner, no  _messenger boy_ , should really be allowed to. Sehun might just become Arl after all… It was unseemly; he was sure it was.

“I’m fine,” he sniffed, hoping he could convince the messenger that was all he planned to say. Jongdae had been incredibly stubborn with him all day, trying to hold a conversation and just in general being annoying and underfoot. It was rather aggravating. 

Instead of getting his drift, however, the messenger smiled brightly. Too brightly. “Well, if you do need a rest from riding, but you’re afraid your horse would get lonely, I’d be happy to take over for a little while.”

Sehun wouldn’t even dignify that statement with a reply. He sighed loudly, obviously, to make Jongdae understand his disdain, and he kicked once along the side of his horse so she would trot a little faster and take him out of speaking range. 

He heard Jongdae chuckle behind him and start speaking to Xiumin instead. The mage was happily trailing along with his arms tied before him, but he still managed to carry himself as if he were out for nothing more than a stroll. 

“So how long have you guys been with the party?” he heard Jongdae asking him.

“Not long,” hummed the mage noncommittally, and Sehun promptly tuned them out. Xiumin was already more than adept at fending off Jongdae's happy interrogations. He’d already had a whole morning and afternoon in which to learn. 

 

 

 

Around late afternoon there came a shout from the front of the party, Jongin telling them to stop. “Halt! There's something up ahead. I’ll need to investigate... Baekhyun, cover, please.” 

The elf materialized out of the forest seemingly out of thin air and fired off a, “Sure thing!” while Chanyeol and Luhan, that funny little templar, ran forward with Jongin. From up on his horse, Sehun could sort of see something on the road, one broken wagon lying on its side with a wheel busted off, at least one dead horse, and the whole thing was eerily deserted and still. Sehun stiffened reflexively and his horse shied as he drew her up to a stop. Jongdae stood between him and the warriors, waiting, with one hand on the reigns of the pack horse, the other on his messenger bag, and he too looked apprehensive. 

“I shouldn’t worry,” said Xiumin. He was standing calmly beside Sehun’s horse, watching the scene ahead intently but not with alarm. At some point Sehun assumed the mage was kind of an idiot for not attempting to escape every time Luhan disappeared from his side, and yet Xiumin didn’t seem even the slightest bit unintelligent when he spoke. He was certainly an odd fellow though. 

“What do you think it is?” Sehun asked, before he had time to think about how he was actually conversing with a prisoner. “Bandits?”

“Don’t know,” the mage admitted. “I think there’s a body though… alive probably. Maybe he will tell us.”

“Are there really a lot of bandits on this road?” asked Sehun softly. 

“We’re near to Lothering.” Xiumin mused for a moment. “It was hit hard by the Blight, and then the darkspawn invasion. I’ve heard they are trying to rebuild, but it is a slow process, and the surrounding area is known to be lawless. I would not be surprised if more bandits roam this area than ever before.”

“That’s… comforting.” 

Xiumin chuckled. “No worries. We number five good fighting men, a hound, and myself. I reckon that will get us through with ease.” 

Sehun did a quick head count. “Where are you getting this number, and why count yourself?”

Again, Xiumin chuckled. “As I said, we’ll be fine.” He ignored Sehun’s bewildered stare and instead nodded ahead to where the warriors were returning with a bedraggled body half-walking, half-limping between them. “Oh, and look, here comes a sixth.”

Sehun’s head shot forward. The closer they approached, the more Sehun stared. Between Jongin and Chanyeol was a smallish, stocky man in a filthy, tattered traveling outfit, dried blood caked to the side of his skull and a black eye. He was crying and whimpering, begging for mercy. Sehun rode his horse to see closer, Xiumin and Jongdae right behind him.

“What is it?” Jongdae echoed Sehun’s words from earlier.

“ _It_ ,” Chanyeol announced dramatically, “is a dwarf.”

“Carta too, by his sigil,” Jongin added. Luhan walked behind them frowning a little. 

“Please, p-please, don’t kill me,” cried the dwarf as they dropped him to the ground. He fell forward on his hands and knees. Alistair circled him once, sniffed at his feet and on the ground where they’d dragged him, all around terrifying the small man by his proximity alone. 

“Sole survivor of whatever, or whoever, attacked,” Jongin continued. “Although he claims to be traveling alone. Unlikely, but—“

“P-please, I  _was_ alone! I was attacked by bandits. I d-don’t w-want to hurt anybody!”

“You work for the Carta and you’re out here traveling alone?” Chanyeol demanded. 

“Y-yes… I got separated from my, my my…”

“Fellow criminals? Fellow smugglers?”

The dwarf whimpered anew at the harsh interrogation, but he nodded, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks. “And then bandits attacked. T-Took my stuff…”

“Aww… bandits stealing from criminals. How sad,” said Chanyeol in mockery.

“What’s your name, dwarf?” It was Luhan who spoke this time. 

“S-Su-Suho,” whispered the dwarf as Alistair circled around once again and this time he stopped before the dwarf. Everyone drew up still as the hound sniffed closer and closer, nose inches from the dwarf’s face and when he bared his teeth the man gasped and cried. “Ancestors…have mercy! M-Mercy, please!” He shut his eyes and grimaced, evidently expecting a painful death and instead, he got a face full of slobber. Alistair practically squelched up the side of his face, rough tongue cleaning him of blood and dirt, and the dwarf froze, stopped howling, and eventually opened his eyes. He leaned backwards on his knees and hesitantly looked around, grimacing again when Alistair licked his hair until it stuck up, and nobody spoke for a moment.

“Settles that,” said Xiumin. 

Sehun was in shock; so was everyone else. Everyone whose name was not Xiumin, and Luhan apparently. The templar seemed to think the matter was entirely settled, as the prisoner mage had announced. He nodded at the dwarf, walked around him and vainly adjusted his armor and robes from where they’d started to drag against the dirty ground. Then he leaned over to help the man up.

“Does that mean we can keep him?” Baekhyun asked with a smirk.

“Keep him?” echoed Chanyeol. “A thug and a criminal? I say we toss him back and keep moving. In fact, why are we even sparing him anyways? Because  _the dog_  said so??”

“We haven’t time to stand here discussing this,” Jongin interrupted. “If there are bandits around, we are vulnerable here on open ground.” It was first statement since the dwarf’s appearance that Sehun found himself agreeing with whole-heartedly.

“But what do we do with the dwarf then?” asked Jongdae.

Jongin seemed to think about it. Then he said, “Tie him up to the pack horse. He can walk alongside it for now. If he drops or falls or can’t walk anymore, cut the rope and leave him. Otherwise we can decide later.”

Everyone except Chanyeol approved of this, and Jongdae offered to keep a watch on him. Sehun tried not to make much of the situation, but it hadn’t escaped his notice that even with all the of shadowy outside threats, assassins, and  _it_ s in the dark, this small and speedy party was now traveling with a whole lot of extra baggage, including a templar and an apostate, a dog which might — keyword  _might_  because he hadn’t seen it yet — take off a man’s head with one bite, a King’s messenger with a penchant for asking questions, and now a bona fide smuggler from one of the scariest crime organizations in Thedas. What an adventure this was turning into, and how soon could they get to Redcliffe and lose everyone in the city?

 

 

 

 

It happened just before dusk. An arrow from out of the forest whizzed passed Sehun’s head and landed smack in an opposing tree branch. The bark crackled around it, and Sehun had never dismounted faster in his life. 

“We’re under attack!” Jongin cried, and there was the unmistakable sound of cries in the distance, only barely louder than the unsheathing of their own warriors’ steel. “Protect the boy!”

But Chanyeol was already moving towards him, defense mode activated until he could move Sehun to safety. Luhan got to him first though, and Sehun had only a moment to wonder why until he realized Xiumin was right next to him, hands bound and straining to pull free. 

“You two, hide now. Behind that boulder there,” shouted the templar. 

Baekhyun was already using his horse for cover, arrows flying from under the animal’s belly as he crouched beneath it taking down the first wave of attackers. Two went down before they even reached Jongin’s sword, and the next one crumpled neatly when the warrior bashed his shield into his skull. 

Sehun felt himself being dragged back, Chanyeol’s sturdy grip around his arm even as Sehun craned around to see what was happening. “Stay put,” the man ordered and Sehun dropped to the ground. Beside him, the mage was shoved down too, although he was yelling harshly.

“Luhan, untie me! I can help!”

“Help by running away, I don’t think so. Stay here and don’t move.” 

“You can’t just leave me here!” Xiumin screamed. 

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be back,” the templar teased and then he and Chanyeol were rushing towards the forefront of the fighting. Jongin had taken down another bandit all on his own and Baekhyun was steady harassing the rest off their feet.

Sehun had lost sight of Jongdae and the dwarf, and although he heard the little man start to cry from somewhere else, he didn't have time to worry about them. Sehun had never learned how to fight. He could handle stabbing a dead fish with a dinner knife, but even that never turned out pretty. Fighting for his life though, if it came down to it, he knew he’d be a goner. That said, the second his butt hit the ground and his head was removed from view, hidden from possible arrow attack, his hands scrambled frantically at his boot, palms sweaty as he pulled out the secret dagger his mother had gifted him before he left. Maybe he could stab some ankles before he died, if anyone managed to breach the line of defense. At least he could say he’d gone down fighting.

Xiumin, however, had other ideas. The dagger glinted prettily in the sunset light, but the mage’s eyes suddenly alighted with an even deeper, hungrier glow.

“Sehun,” said the mage, and Sehun felt fear. “Sehun… your knife. Give me the knife…” His words were calming, soothing, it made sense to do as he said. 

“I… I… No, I can’t.”

Xiumin glared at him. He held up his bound wrists and waved them angrily in front of his face. “Sehun, I am going to get these ties off one way or another, and it’ll be a whole lot faster if you use that knife.”

“But…”

“Cut me loose Sehun, and the sooner I’ll be able to help!” 

Chanyeol’s cries from ahead of them were loud and angered. “Take that! Jongin, to your right! There’s another wave coming!”

Xiumin stared at him even more frantically, hands held up before his eyes. “Sehun,  _come on…_ ”

It was hard to deny him. On one hand, he wasn’t entirely sure Xiumin was a nice mage. An apostate definitely, but no one had yet ruled out blood magic from Xiumin’s skill set, and Sehun could end up dead in a flash. On the other hand, he might yet die from some dirty bandit’s steel right through the chest or an arrow through his neck, and freeing the mage with the friendly dog seemed like a slightly better option right at this moment. He grabbed Xiumin’s hands, fought with the leather binds, and Xiumin freed his arms with a cry of relief. 

“Lady’s breath! I am free! Thanks, Sehun. You definitely owe me.” And with a cheeky wink the mage was gone. 

Sehun sat there, wondering what he’d just done and why it would be him who owed Xiumin when surely it was the other way around. Should he watch for which direction the mage had gone? Would Luhan murder him later if he didn’t? He was about to peek his head out when he heard Jongin’s shouts and immediately changed his mind. 

“Mages! They’ve got mages! By Andraste’s holy knickers, why do they have mages?!” There was a blast of something magical cast over the ground and Sehun didn’t dare lift his head to see what kind of spell it had been. He may have just heard Jongin — silent, sophisticated sword warrior Jongin — call upon the prophetess’ holy underpants, and he really hoped it wouldn’t be the last time he heard the warrior curse. 

“Help? Anybody?” That was Jongin’s voice again, and apparently not near death. “I said mages! I repeat, mages. Luhan? A little help would be nice!”

“Ohhh hooo! I’m on it!” came Luhan’s voice in reply. “These mages are oh so ready to die!”

 

 

 

 

To be honest, Luhan hadn’t engaged in a full-on skirmish in a while. Not since a routing expedition in Nevarra had he faced more than a handful of enemies. On his way down to the wilds the templars had snuck up on a few bandit scouts and made easy work out of tying them up, but this attack wasn’t anything like that. This wasn’t a mindless criminal branch of men staking a small piece of land; this was a full raiding party on what the bandits probably assumed was a weaker traveling caravan. They didn’t know they were attacking a band protected by three terribly skilled warriors and an archer who hadn’t yet landed an arrow astray. 

And still, it was harrowing. As if to amend for their early losses, the second wave of bandits descended in strength and it was all Luhan, Jongin, Chanyeol and Baekhyun could do to hold them off. Alistair went on a tearing spree and ravaged a few, but they were still completely outnumbered. Luhan had a sparing thought for the young lord and the mage he’d partially hidden, but not well enough, and he worried for their safety. Then there was the dwarf Luhan really thought was harmless, and the poor King’s messenger lost in the woods without a horse, and Luhan fought harder. 

Until Jongdae appeared in his peripheral vision, dual daggers askew as he swung them with all the precision of… an incredibly skilled fighter! Luhan would have to do something about this, but in the meantime it was bandits going down at the ends of Jongdae's blades, and not the people in their own party. 

Sadly, the dwarf Suho was also free — probably Jongdae’s doing — and he crouched in fear near the restless pack horse. When a bandit went down nearby on Chanyeol’s handiwork, Luhan caught the dwarf inching towards the fallen sword, and he had a moment of panic when Suho picked it up and attempted to swing it behind Jongin’s back. Luhan had no time to aid the other warrior, and that would have surely meant Jongin’s downfall, had the dwarf actually been aiming for him. Belatedly, he realized Suho was actually attempting to take on an encroaching bandit. But it wasn't just any bandit. 

On accident Suho managed to distract the maleficar just as the mage started to chant. His poorly swung blade missed the mage’s body entirely, but it did clip off the end of his staff, interrupting the spell, and that was all the time Jongin needed to realize what new force they were to deal with next: mages, bloody mages.

Luhan blushed at Jongin’s curses, but he filed away that blasphemy along with the knowledge that Jongdae was way too skilled with a dagger, and he called upon his Templar abilities. The first mage was rendered inert, powerless, and the second one behind him Luhan likewise dispelled. 

The bandits were falling back, some limping away, others in full on retreat and at least ten bodies lay strewn out before them. Sweat clung at Luhan’s hairline, and his body ached, his sword arm in pain from where he’d taken a pommel strike, and his sword itself reeked of blood and flesh. The roadside looked a complete disaster, and yet, miraculously, none of their party had gone down. Only Suho, but the dwarf lay on the ground only because his legs had given out in pure, adrenaline-fueled joy that he’d actually survived. His borrowed sword laid forgotten by his feet. 

Everyone was now staring at Jongdae, no King’s messenger, that’s for sure. The impish looking fellow held his daggers by his side and smiled rather ruefully. His weapons of choice were curved, jagged, lethal. 

Chanyeol stalked up to him first silently, for a change, and Jongin closed in by his side. Baekhyun actually held back, his bow gripped firmly, an arrow still fit and ready to fly. All he needed to do was aim for Jongdae’s head if the man made even once false move.

Sehun appeared as well, tentatively and in terror, his eyes wide at the sight of all the bodies strewn across the road. Luhan looked for Xiumin, couldn't find him, but before he could finish his search, Chanyeol began slowly raising his sword. This finally drew out a reaction from Jongdae. 

“Woah, woah! Easy there! Look, I’m not here to harm anyone,” the man hotly denied.

“You may have to explain to us then,” said Jongin, “what those daggers in your hands are for.”

“These?” said Jongdae. He raised his hands a fraction, hilts forward to indicate he wasn’t about to murder anyone. “These are my friends… This one here is Isabella,” he glanced to his right hand. “And this is Zevran.” He nodded at his left. 

Luhan decided to take a step back. The techniques Jongdae had so beautifully demonstrated earlier were clearly the training of the Crows, and a more deadly set of assasins you weren't likely to find in all of Thedas. One personal meeting between an Antivan Crow assassin, and almost nobody lived to tell the tale.

Jongdae stealthily replaced his ‘friends’ into their sheaths, one on each hip, and held his hands up in comic surrender. “Look, I’m just a friendly assassin. I’m not actually here for any of you. I just wanted some company along the road.”

“That’s easier said than believed,” Chanyeol warned. Jongin too refused to let his guard down.

Suho, however, finally lost it all over again and started whimpering along the ground. “An assassin… You’ve been traveling with an assassin all along and you thought  _I_  was the scary one!” He kept scooting backwards in an awkward crab walk until his back ended up flush against a tree.

Jongdae looked remorseful. “Hey, I’m not scary. Honest! I was just lonely! And my horse really did catch a bandit arrow. I just failed to mention how that bandit ended up dead later and…oh, woah woah! Really, now!”

Chanyeol and Jongin had both stepped closer towards him, swords drawn, and by now Luhan was really starting to wonder what happened to Xiumin. He hadn’t been out of the mage’s presence for days now, and he was beginning to feel that loss. However, there was a slightly more important issue at hand. 

“Are you from Antiva? You don’t sound like one,” he asked Jongdae.

“Ah, finally some good questions. No, I’m just from around. Ferelden mainly, but I did some training with the Crows, in case you… hadn’t figured that out.” He smiled so sweetly it was hard to picture him as one of the deadliest men in the world. 

“And what exactly are you doing in Ferelden?” Jongin inquired. 

“Mmm. I would tell you but… that’s a secret.” He winked. 

“Secret or not, I think you should be on your way.” Chanyeol wanted him gone. 

“You want me to go  _now?_ ” Jongdae frowned.“Or stick around with you guys until we get to Redcliffe, because you know what? I’ve traveled these parts for a while now, and it doesn’t exactly  _get_  any better. My advice is you keep me around, and I’ll help keep you alive just because… of the goodness of my heart. Call it gratitude for the exchange of your lively company?” 

He had a point, which no one wanted to acknowledge. “Do we have a deal? Going? Going… Okay, I will stay!” 

Before anyone could protest, however, there was a commotion behind Luhan’s back, and there shouldn’t have been  _anyone_  alive behind his back. Baekhyun was the first to shriek as an invisible force winded him across the chest and he flung back, bow dislodged. Jongin and Chanyeol also tried to react but they were too slow and too far away to do anything. The two of them and Jongdae went down in the same energy barrage that hit Baekhyun, and before Luhan could turn to face it a gust of icy cold flames whipped around his body in a freezing, immobilizing and deathly assault. 

Luhan hit the ground thinking to himself why, oh why, did it have to be a mage who killed him, and why had he turned his back on Xiumin...

The mage didn’t look like Xiumin, but then Luhan was probably about to die and the mind was known to do incredible things to allow a near-death person pretend something isn’t so. It made Xiumin look like an older, stockier man in a different robe with a great golden staff, and thank the Maker for giving him such comfort in his last and final moments, to let him believe it wasn't Xiumin killing him.

But then the frozen tendrils released him, and he gasped in shock, sitting up and holding his chest and when he looked up he saw the mage who’d attacked locked in something resembled a crushing prison. His face shown in agony, invisible forces crushing him from the inside out and a single beacon of energy attached itself from the prison to a staff on the other side of the trees, and Luhan saw another mage there, a strange staff in his hand.

“Xiuminnn,” he choked.

The energy prison ceased, and the mage confined within it dropped to the ground, dead. The others around Luhan were starting to sit up. They clutched at their pained bodies, but Luhan only had eyes for the mage he’d once taken prisoner. Xiumin stood motionless between the trees, staff clasped within his palm, and he looked more pained than anyone else when Luhan stared at him in fear and horror.


	5. Who Is the Hero Here?

Xiumin couldn’t move. No spell held him in place, and yet as if he was held still by the horror in Luhan’s gaze, he did not move. Part of it was the after rush of adrenaline. Seeing the maleficar they’d all thought was dead spring suddenly back to life, issuing the energy barrage that immobilized the warriors, and the ice blast that would surely have ended the templar’s life, Xiumin had reacted without thought. His chest heaved, relief mixed with the sudden dread that had overcome him when he thought the templar would die right in front of his eyes.

His feet were frozen in place, even as Luhan dragged himself to his feet and began limping over to him, clutching his chest and coughing still, sword arm dangling to the ground.  He’d dropped his shield, Xiumin saw, and he was probably nowhere fit to dispel anything Xiumin threw at him. He could easily stun Luhan and make his escape into the forests. He could do it, was planning on doing it, then, now, now, right now... before he lost the chance.

The staff in his palm fell away easily when Luhan grabbed it and tossed it behind him. Xiumin gasped for air when he realized what had happened, what he’d let happen.

“You…” Luhan snarled at him. “ _You_ … what…  _that mage_ … did you  _use_  on him…??”

Was it a trick question, Xiumin wondered carelessly. “I…” his voice trailed off.

“That as a very powerful spell, Xiumin, that  _you_  used to kill that mage!”

“You… you would have died…” For Xiumin it was very simple, but then again he had just revealed one of his strongest forms of magic. Some mages kill with fire and ice, or with other elemental powers. Frost powers, Xiumin was actually very good at, and so he knew to reverse it. Spirit magic though, the ones mages employed for fear and terror, he knew some humans viewed that as tantamount to blood magic. It was just one shade lighter in a templar’s books.

How must it look to stand before a person and see that person crushed by his very own essences, from the inside out…

“You would have died…” Xiumin croaked out again when Luhan clutched at his arm and he fell forward like a rag doll, the templar dragging him back towards the others. He fell to the ground when Luhan dropped him, feet from the warriors who were all observing him with interest.

“Who let him go?” Luhan demanded. He looked at everyone, but his eyes landed most suspiciously on Sehun. The boy sunk back in fright. “Did you? Did you cut him free?” He was evidently looking at the dagger still in Sehun’s hands.

“I… I…” he gasped.

“I made him do it,” Xiumin whispered into the dirt.

“What?! How?” cried Luhan.

Sehun stood up a little straighter, boldly replying, “He… he said he could help… You… you were being overrun.”

“We had it under control!”

Jongin took a step towards the templar. “Luhan, maybe you should calm down. He didn’t hurt any of us after all.”

“Yeah, and he did save your life,” said Jongdae. He made to step forward to assist the mage but Luhan screamed at him.

“Back off! Nobody touches him. He’s dangerous, just as I’ve said before.”

Xiumin sank into the dirt, one ear up, but he didn’t look at anybody when he suggested softly, “Dangerous as a sword that slices a man’s neck, or arrows that pierce the heart? What makes me more dangerous than any of you…?”

He should have run away, Xiumin knew that now. No one ever understood magic or mages, no matter where he’d been or where he’d traveled. Armies had swept across nations, darkspawn had overrun the ground, and yet one lone mage with a staff in his hand could cause even the most stalwart of warriors to scream for their mothers in fear. Who was Xiumin to inspire such terror? Hardly the strongest enchanter to ever walk in Thedas. No Tevinter magister to break open the Veil and invade the realm of the old gods. He was just a single mage, scared of the world, and of imprisonment, and so he kept constantly on the move, out of contact with everyone he’d ever known, his brothers and sisters, and every friend he’d ever made.

“I think we should leave them to each other for a minute,” he heard Baekhyun suggesting from out of eye range.

“Yes,” Chanyeol agreed.

“Get the horses, and let’s get this party ready to move,” Jongin said staunchly. “And Jongdae, if you’re not going to stab us in the back, or front, or side, or just… anywhere, why don’t you help?”

“Sure thing!” quipped the assassin. “Hey, if I don’t use a dagger, can I kill you someway else?”

“No,” warned Jongin lazily. “Why don’t you start by assisting the dwarf? He looks like he can barely walk.”

There was a whimper from Suho, and more laughter from the assassin, and the sounds of footsteps walking away. Xiumin closed his eyes and sighed to himself. He lay curled up in his robes, knees almost drawn to his chest, as he waited for Luhan’s verdict. If this was how it was always going to be, maybe he should just let himself be taken away. Perhaps life in the Circle Tower wasn’t as bad as he’d always heard. Maybe if he was surrounded by other mages he might be able to live and not always be so alone? 

Or not. Sometimes alone was better. He heard Luhan move forward, held his eyes shut when the templar knelt down. Would he kill him now and just be done with it? Or bind him again and take him away?

“Tell me what spells you used during the battle,” said the templar gently, and Xiumin opened his eyes in surprise.

“What? You saw what I did already.”

“No, before that. Did you… how did you acquire a staff and… why did the bandits retreat?”

Oh that. So Luhan figured that part out too. “I edged around the battle,” he admitted softly, “until I found a downed mage…”

“Yes,” Luhan urged him on. He felt the templar place a cold palm to his temples.

“And then I cast Fear on the rest of them so they would retreat… and they did… and then…”

“And then…”

“Then I was planning on running away,” Xiumin admitted with another shallow sigh.

The templar was silent. In the distance a horse was braying, Jongin yelling instructions for keeping her still. Jongdae could be heard nagging Suho to stand up, and Baekhyun was singing carelessly. And still Luhan’s fingers were stroking the bangs on Xiumin’s forehead. They were soft, light, delicate, and even that much felt amazing, to have someone pretend to care about him, even if he knew it wasn’t going to last.

“Alright,” said Luhan finally.

“Alright, what?” asked Xiumin carefully, widening his eyes.

“Alright, I forgive you. And I’m sorry. But I still have to take you with me, okay?”

Xiumin had never heard of templars apologizing before, not for something it was their Maker-driven duty to do.

“Fine…” Xiumin exhaled, as if he had a choice in the matter. Truthfully, he kind of did. He could still overpower Luhan given the chance, and run away. The leather bindings weren’t actually that hard to undo if he put some work into them. Perhaps he’d keep going for a while, and then slip away later before they reached the Circle Tower.

“I’m not going to tie you up this time,” said Luhan then, and Xiumin was stunned. “But you’re definitely not going to drift out of my sight, and you will  _not_  carry a weapon, is that clear?”

After he’d helped Xiumin up and ushered him back to the party, and after they made camp later that night in the under hang of an old cave, Xiumin was still in shock. True to his word, Luhan had not tied him up, but he did keep him close and was always looking at him, perhaps waiting for Xiumin to try something.  _Daring_  him to try anything. Before they slept Luhan pulled out a wood-bound case carrying several small potions bottle, and a sealed box containing lyrium powders. He may have let Xiumin partially off the hook, but he was dosing himself up in case he needed to call upon his templar abilities. The battle earlier had definitely weakened the man. Xiumin watched covertly as the templar mixed some of the dust into the empty bottle, added the liquids from the second one, and Luhan grimaced when he drained the contents of the bottle down his throat in one fast gulp. His head shook, and his body convulsed for several seconds and he squirmed uncomfortably while the drug took effect.

Xiumin didn’t try anything that night. Not with the templar right beside him, one hand touching his shoulder, fingers wrapping across his bare skin as if to make sure the mage wasn’t going to run away. He wasn't... Not this night, anyways.

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the next day they came upon Lothering, or what was left of the village that had once been a self-sustaining community on the crossroads of three highways. The town was dingy, buildings burnt down from the darkspawn invasion and still not rebuilt even three years later. They camped there on the edge of town since there was no where for visitors to stay that actually had a roof overhead. The remaining villagers were already looking at them warily, as if they might ask to eat from their depleted food stocks. 

“We'll leave at first light. Best not to linger long,” said Jongin after they’d staked out their bed spots in the dirt beside a grove of sickly looking trees. 

“No kidding,” Baekhyun commented. “This town is on the verge of death. Barely a fraction of its old population, almost no women or children. They say nothing even grows here anymore. The Blight and the darkspawn corrupted the land, poisoned even the soil.”

Sehun shivered before the fire, blanket up firmly around his shoulders. Luhan listened to them politely, and Xiumin stared at no one in particular. Jongdae was already on his back with his hands behind his head settling in for the night.

“I wandered about earlier,” Baekhyun was continuing, “And the people just gave me dirty looks…”

“Why were you wandering the village?” Jongin questioned him immediately.

“Because… I was scouting? You know like how I do…?” Baekhyun looked at him puzzled.

“But... you're an elf.”

Baekhyun blinked at him. “I… was aware of that actually?” 

“Humans don’t like elves, especially in these parts. You should be wary and avoid them as much as possible.” Jongin spoke like it was common knowledge, which it partially was, however, his manner of warning came as a shock. He wasn’t really even looking at the elf directly, and yet Jongin had never especially concerned himself with Baekhyun’s safety. 

“I’ll… heed your words. But you know, Jongin…” the elf paused dramatically. “Humans without armor are a whole lot less scary than bandits and wolves… I think I can handle a few jeers. Won’t be the first time I was called knife-ears. And anyways, that’s why I practice with Chanyeol!” 

“What? Hey!” cried the taller warrior with the almost elf-like ears.

Jongin frowned and looked away and then he added a log to their fire so it would keep them warm for a little while longer. Suho shifted closer to the fire, ostensibly to warm his hands although anytime he could find an excuse to put some distance between himself and the assassin, he did so, Luhan noticed with amusement. Since Jongdae's big reveal, he hadn't done one particularly scary thing, and yet everyone remained wary of him, the dwarf more so than most. He wondered how Suho had come to join the Carta, or if he'd just somehow stumbled into it. Casteless dwarves were so often left without options in this world, once they stuck their heads outside of Orzammar, saw the sky, and became immediate outcasts. 

Or perhaps he’d just been born to the casteless. He wouldn’t talk much to confirm Luhan’s suspicions either way. Too frightened to do more than squeak half the time, or to ask for food, or to beg for someone to keep Alistair away. The dog was practically the same size as him, if not bigger.

“I’ll take first watch,” Luhan volunteered once everyone’s eyes were beginning to droop. Beside him the mabari was already snoozing, although he knew Alistair would wake up in a heartbeat if anything were to come around. Whether or not he would kill it was a different matter. Xiumin laid down and turned his back to him. Luhan didn’t miss how this was becoming the mage’s version of a cold shoulder. 

“I’ll stay up with you,” said Jongin. 

“I’ll thank you, then,” Luhan responded with a tip of his head. 

“Well, should I stay up too?” asked Baekhyun, but Jongin shook his head. 

“There’s no need. Rest, since I think the next few days will be long.”

“I heard the roads west of here are loaded with bandits,” said the elf. He seemed to consider all the spots around the fireplace and decided the empty space next to Jongin looked the most comfortable. He threw his blanket down beside him and stretched out.

“They are,” said the warrior.

“How did you manage to travel before?” Luhan asked him. “When you came from West Hills to Denerim?” 

Jongin shrugged. “The West Road, like most travelers. But I hitched onto a troop of soldiers from the Arl of Redcliffe. Nobody bothered much with a band that well-armed, though a few did try.”

This put Jongin’s decision to travel lesser known roads on the way back with Sehun into further question. Why the secrecy, and why — as Xiumin had suggested — hadn’t they just hired more soldiers? Mercenaries were easily bought in these times, and yet they’d made a daring decision to take the out-of-the-way path. 

“I see,” said Luhan. He didn’t really, but then it really wasn’t any of his business.

Instead of sleeping, Baekhyun had pulled out a small bound journal from his canvas bag and was reading it a few pages at a time in the joint fire and moonlight. Every few seconds he chuckled or smirked or scoffed or huffed and finally Jongin had to ask him what he was doing.

“It's a journal!” said the elf.

“Yours? Is your life that fascinating? You should be sleeping,” the warrior responded. Luhan watched them and laughed to himself.

“Of course it's not mine. You think  _I_ go around leaving all my deepest, darkest secrets around for just anyone to find and pick up?”

Jongin sighed. “Where'd you find it?”

“In the village.”

“You stole somebody's journal? And read it?” Jongin looked scandalized.

“For the love of little fish! Jongin, I didn't steal it from anyone actually _alive_ !” He puttered to himself for a moment, flipped through a few more pages. “I found it in a burned out shack. In a chest. That was locked. And anyways, this person's probably dead. Look, at the last entry.” He waved the pages in front of Jongin's face as the warrior strove not to peek. “They were here as a refugee in the final days of the evacuation, before the darkspawn swarmed the town. Probably died here. Or abandoned the place and left their diary. How sad...”

“What's sad, that they're most likely dead or that they left their diary for someone like you to find and read?”

Baekhyun considered him for a moment. “Wow, Jongin. Is that sarcasm? Coming from you?” Jongin snorted, unbothered by the accusation. “I think I'm a little bit impressed. And in any case, what's sad is how fanciful this 'journal' is. Hah, it's probably not even real. I bet they made it all up. Look, it says here they even met the Hero of Ferelden before she got famous. I bet loads of people say that now!” 

He turned a few pages as Jongin pretended not to pay attention to Baekhyun's recitation by some second-hand source, even if the person claimed to have met the grey warden hero who ended the Fifth Blight.

“And oohh, look they claim she was a dwarven archer. What a load of pigeon crap. Everyone knows she was an elven warrior.”

“I heard she was a human mage,” said Jongin.

“What? No way.” Baekhyun wouldn't believe it.

“And I heard, the hero was actually a man.” Luhan couldn't help but insert another theory. There were so many of them after all. He met Jongin's eyes in the half-light and they smiled at each other, both ignoring Baekhyun's impassioned denials of everything. 

“Whatever. I'm going to sleep,” the elf moaned. “Stupid journals. Why do people even write such things? I bet I could write better journals. I'll make up my own stories. Leave them beside dead bodies for people to find later. See how they like  _that!_ ”

He turned over under his blanket and huffed. “I'm sure it won't matter very much anyways,” said Jongin softly.

As the night settled on and everyone fell asleep except for the two shield warriors, Luhan actually felt kind of at peace. Xiumin had snuggled backwards a bit since he and the templar shared a blanket and the ground was kind of cold. Luhan sat with his back against a tree, so Xiumin’s head lay near his hip. Suho was passed out on his back, snoring. Jongdae might have been awake, but then one couldn’t tell with the assassin. Chanyeol slept like a zombie. 

“You know,” said the other warrior, as the hour approached when they would awaken the next shift. “Your company to Redcliffe wouldn’t be unwanted, if you mind taking a slight detour.”

Luhan scoffed lightly. “You mean you want my sword arm?”

“I do,” said Jongin honestly. “You and the mage would also be safer sticking with us for a ways.”

Luhan thought about it. On the western edge of the village stood the crossroads. East took them to Denerim, due west to Redcliffe. The third, slighter north-western route would eventually circle the eastern edge of Lake Calenhad, and the Circle Tower lay north from there. Then again, if they went to Redcliffe first, it wouldn’t be that far of a jog to later get back onto their correct destination. 

“We probably should,” he agreed finally. 

Jongin grinned, happy for once. “To Redcliffe, then.”

“To Redcliffe.”

 

 

 

They woke Chanyeol for second watch, accidentally woke Sehun too. The boy was finding it hard to sleep at night anyways. He twitched beneath his bedroll, fidgeted endlessly, and his eyes flickered open at every sound from the forest beyond. He should have been dreaming about bandits or lawless men from the village nearby. Instead he kept fearing the  _it_  from the forest. The thing that had been following them. Every night thoughts of it plagued him until he wasn’t sure what was a nightmare and what was reality. 

“Something the matter?” Chanyeol finally inquired. He nudged Sehun with his long leg, stuck out from his blanket as he lazily surveyed their surroundings.

“No,” said Sehun, tired. “Ground’s uncomfortable, that’s all.” He sat up. 

“Want another blanket?”

“No,” he replied petulantly. “I think I’ll just go and take a leak.” 

“Don’t go far,” said Chanyeol.

“Right. Right. Like I’ll go wandering off in the middle of the night.” He drowned out the rest of Chanyeol’s complaints and offers to go with him. He was twenty years old and definitely didn’t need someone to hold his hand while he took a wee. Even if Chanyeol practically insisted upon it sometimes. 

The forest was dark, but true to his word he didn’t venture far. Sehun wasn’t that much of an idiot. He went just far enough to give himself some privacy, which was hard to come by these days. 

A wolf howled in the distance, and Sehun wasted no more time. He finished his business, tied up his drawstrings, and turned around. Nearby, and a lot more closer, another wolf howled. Sehun nearly tripped over a root in the ground, panicked but held himself up. At the third howl though he tripped over his own feet and landed in a brush of dead leaves and muck. 

The fourth howl, which was even closer, ended abruptly, even as Sehun scrambled to his feet. It was almost like someone had silenced it, the howl ending in a painful yip, and then silence... He raced back to the campfire, bewildered how he’d persuaded himself to go even this far from it. Chanyeol was right of course. He had no business even walking past the tree line, and yet he had and here he was, nearly eaten by wolves in the night. Something told him his mother wouldn't be pleased to receive  _that_ particular letter. 

At least it hadn’t come any closer though, the wolf. At least something had killed… Sehun crawled into his bedroll and immediately covered his head with the blanket. Some _thing_ …


	6. Battle of the Bears

If Xiumin thought anything strange about their new course of travel the following morning — west towards Redcliffe, and not towards the Circle Tower — he said nothing of it to Luhan. The templar kept waiting to be asked. He had a long and well-crafted excuse for why it was much safer to travel with known companions as far as possible before commandeering a fishing boat from Redcliffe to the next closest point of the northbound Imperial Highway. Several times after Xiumin just considered him curiously at a glance, Luhan almost volunteered this part of his plan, but the longer the mage refused to talk to him, the longer Luhan decided he would hold out. They walked most of the way side by side, but there was silence between them. Luhan found himself missing Xiumin’s usual sarcastic banter, although he saw no reason to mention this. 

More irritating than even this was how Xiumin was beginning to talk more to the others in their party. Sehun in particular had taken a partial liking to the mage, and Suho seemed to prefer him to just about anyone else. Luhan took offense to this. Sure Xiumin and his animal had been the first to pronounce the dwarf as harmless and not worth killing, but Luhan had agreed to this too! Only Kai seemed to find Luhan’s company tasteful, but his fellow shield warrior typically spent most of their journey with his mind closed off from anything except the threat of attack.

He was well to do so too, just as he and Luhan were both right in their decision to stick together. The first day out from Lothering saw two separate bandit attacks, although neither were of the same build or make-up as the last one which had caused them fright. At most it made them wary, and it also solidified Jongdae’s opinion that having two amongst them with no fighting skills to speak of was a terrible, terrible admission. 

“That’s it! I’m teaching you two how to fight!” He lined up Sehun with Suho, both looking equally as terrified when Jongdae held out two twigs for each of them.

Suho dropped one of his twigs before Jongdae could even let it go. Sehun held his apprehensively. “What are we doing with these?” he asked, eyes wide.

“I’m teaching you how to duel,” said the assassin.

“You’re what?” Sehun exclaimed.

Chanyeol was about as alarmed. “Uhmm… can someone tell me why it’s a good idea to have our  _friendly_  assassin teaching a criminal how to fight?”  His disdainful tone for both the stranger and the the dwarf came as a shock to no one.

“So you don’t have an objection to Sehun learning how to fight?” Baekhyun suggested.

“That wasn’t my point, Baekhyun.”

“No, but having him learn wouldn’t be such a bad idea,” Jongin interjected. “At the very least it’ll entertain us in the evenings, and why not teach the dwarf? Sehun needs someone of his own skill to practice with.” He shrugged his eyebrows like this was for a bit of fun, and Baekhyun grinned smugly. The assassin gave Jongin a very formal bow for acquiescing. 

Unfortunately they made no progress that night. Sehun was clumsy and weak-limbed. Suho remained uncoordinated and Luhan couldn’t decide if he was more terrified of the idea of eventually holding real daggers, or if it was just from Jongdae’s proximity. Either way it was entertaining, but just to keep things from getting worse, he kept Alistair far from the training sight and closer by him.

As he pet the dog behind the ears, Luhan glanced around for the mage. The sun had gone down only an hour ago, Baekhyun was arguing with Jongin about how best to roast deer meat for their supper, Chanyeol was scrutinizing the fight training from afar, and there was no one else for Luhan to talk to. Xiumin, however, was feigning sleep. He knew because he’d spent enough time with the mage both during the day and at night to know when Xiumin was truly asleep, so this meant he was doing it now just to get out of speaking. It was exhausting Luhan mentally, the sudden onslaught of the silent treatment. Luhan knew he’d been harsh on him after mage-bandit skirmish, but to be fair he’d been absolutely terrified! Spirit magic was something he’d never been trained to combat, and most of it was more powerful than for even the most skilled templar to withstand. 

In short, if Xiumin had wanted Luhan dead, he could have done it. And yet, Luhan was alive because of him. Gratitude towards a mage… Luhan didn’t know how to deal with those sorts of feelings. 

He abandoned Xiumin’s side long enough to roast meat for two, and when he plopped back down besides the napping man, juicy dripping skewers of deer between his fingers, and still the mage would not open his eyes or sit up.

“Xiumin, your dinner is getting cold,” he said as naturally as he could.

The mage didn't stir.

“Not hungry?” Luhan started a conversation with himself. “Fine, I guess I’m hungry enough. I can eat more.”  He devoured the first skewer very, very slowly, licking his lips probably more than he needed to, just so Xiumin would be forced to hear him. “Okay, now for the second one.” He had four in his hand to start with, but Xiumin might not know that.

The mage didn't move a muscle or even open his eyes. Luhan leaned over to check if he was even breathing, but he had no cause for alarm. 

“Okay, now for your portion since you don’t seem to want it.” Luhan waited a moment out of consideration. “No? I guess I’ll eat them too. Breakfast was a  _long_  time ago.” 

Except Luhan didn’t want to eat another skewer. He'd lied; he was actually pretty full but since Xiumin wasn’t calling his bluff, he didn’t know what to do.

“You know what. I’ll feed the dog. Alistair only ate a whole nug earlier. I’m sure he’s still hungry now.” The hound picked up his head expectantly. 

“In fact, I’m sure that nug was all bone and no meat. Look at Alistair. He’s practically salivating for a real meal. He’s skin and bones, poor creature. Whatever were you feeding him before?”

To Luhan’s immense glee, Xiumin finally sighed long and hard and lifted himself to a seated position. 

“Oh, so you  _are_  hungry?” He tried not to pretend anything was amiss. 

“No… I’m not. But I’m not letting you spoil my dog. Alistair is not skinny. In fact, he’s getting fat.”

Luhan smiled and waved one of the skewers dangerously close to the hound’s sniffing nose. 

“Give me that!” said Xiumin exasperated. He tugged the skewer away and began eating it himself, not looking in Luhan’s direction. That he had to acknowledge Luhan to get the final skewer out of his hand made the templar’s heart sigh in relief. Petulant, grouchy Xiumin was always a fun sight. He’d missed it too much.

“Thank you,” said the mage a few minutes later.

Luhan blinked at him, although Xiumin wasn’t looking. “For what?”

“Dinner. Thank you.”

“Oh. You’re welcome… It was no trouble.”

“Yeah,” said Xiumin, obviously still not in a mood to talk. 

Luhan let him stay quiet. The others had finished their very inexpert weapons training. Suho was shaking all over from the exertion and Sehun had broken out into a very smelly sweat. Baekhyun wouldn’t sit anywhere closer to the boy when they took their spots around the fire to eat. He ended up between Jongin and Chanyeol, the latter still glowering at Jongdae as if he suspected him of maliciously trying to arm dwarves for some grand underhanded plot. It could be true anyway.

“Thank  _you_ ,” whispered Luhan to Xiumin while the others conversed loudly about the road conditions and the projected weather.

For the first time all evening Xiumin turned his head to actually look at him. “For what?” he whispered back, almost harshly.

Luhan sighed. “Oh, I don’t know. For eating so well, for raising such a good, nice doggy…” Luhan pet the beast that was sitting between them. “For saving my life…”

Xiumin didn’t respond. He turned his head sharply forward and only grunted after a few moments had passed. 

“Wouldn’t want to add you to my conscious,” he admitted several minutes after that, gruffly, and without an ounce of personal feeling. “However would I sleep at night?”

“Seems like you sleep well enough,” said Luhan. “At night anyways. This early evening fake nap though was rather useless.”

He didn’t respond, but then Luhan didn’t expect him too. At least they’d exchanged a few words prior. 

 

 

 

 

 

On the afternoon of the next day, Baekhyun noticed something new along the muddy edges of the road: bear tracks.

“You’re sure about that?” Jongin questioned him. 

Baekhyun nearly rolled his eyes, but he held it together. Pointing across the road he said, “Of course. Look, diagonally from there to there. They’re lost in the middle between where the road is half stone, but beside each tree line there are fresh tracks. Several bears by the looks of it, and quite recently too.”

“Any chance we’ll encounter them?”

“I’d count on it,” said Baekhyun. “If they’re at least halfway out of range they might not attack, but if they see us, they’ll attack. Best warn the others.” 

Jongin went to consult Luhan, not that Baekhyun expected otherwise. Jongin seemed to do that a lot; Baekhyun didn’t know how he’d ever manage to separate those two stalwart warriors when their time on the road together came to an end. When they’d started out, Jongin went to Chanyeol whenever he wanted to discuss plans, routes, defensive tactics, etc. Then he’d learned the two-handed barracks-only warrior knew only how to swing a sword — not that there was anything wrong with that — but Chanyeol knew next to nothing about the outdoors or anything resembling complex tactics. He couldn’t tell the difference between a wolf’s step or a nug’s unless the animals were up close, and he almost couldn’t even remember which direction was west when they were heading into the setting sun. At least with Luhan Jongin probably felt more like a warrior. They could do all kinds of complicated... sword stuff together, and sound intelligent about it. Before  _he_  came around,  _Baekhyun_  was the most knowledgable person to converse with. Stupid templar.

Baekhyun huffed and considered Chanyeol again. Not exactly unintelligent, and he was something of a reader, so Baekhyun gave him...  _some_  creditfor that. Chanyeol had an impressive collection of requisition lists, wanted posters and bounties. It was stirring literature. In fact, he’d probably go nuts if they found some bears to kill, because someone in Redcliffe had requested five pelts to make a rug, and Chanyeol was always happy to make a little coin. 

“Bears!” 

Baekhyun heard the tall warrior cry happily from somewhere behind. Jongin had evidently informed the rest of the party. In the meantime, Baekhyun continued examining the tracks for a number count. He crouched over in the dirt, fingers skimming the displaced mud. The prognosis wasn’t too good: three adults and one or two claw marks that might have belonged to two separate cubs before their tracks were covered up by a larger step. 

The animals were vicious creatures, more savage than most, this breed of Ferelden bear. Baekhyun may have papers documenting him as a City elf but he’d had encounters with bear packs before. His time spent with the Dalish as a teenager had been quite instructive, and most often the Dalish elves preferred to avoid and circumvent these beasts unless they absolutely couldn’t help it. At best, bears were a nuisance.

“Alright everyone!” he chipperly called out to the party. “Eyes open and mouths shut. Hey, maybe they’ll have moved on from the road and are happily lumbering through the forests, but then again… maybe they’re just hanging out waiting for their evening meal.”

“Excited, are we?” asked Jongdae with a grin.

“Ever excited to meet bears!” Baekhyun laughed with him. 

The dwarf — and maybe someday Baekhyun would learn to call him by name — was looking particularly less cheerful. In fact he looked a little pale, and Baekhyun didn’t blame him. He’d been absolutely useless in the last few bandit skirmishes, usually hiding behind a horse or just by himself in a little ball on the road. The last posture was rather easy for him; he didn’t have far to go. 

“How’s your fighting coming along?” Baekhyun asked just to tease him. 

“It sucks.” Chanyeol answered on Suho’s behalf. The dwarf surprisingly nodded in agreement. 

“Oh well. Good luck then,” said Baekhyun, while he readjusted the bow across his back. He would be ready at least. 

As they started moving again, Baekhyun registered the templar and the mage actually conversing at the rear of the caravan. That alone was pretty unusual now, and yet they seemed to be in agreement about something for a change. Baekhyun guessed it had something to do with the spare staff he’d seen Luhan sneak onto the saddle horse, although Xiumin was definitely not allowed to use it,  _yet_.

Baekhyun shook his head and scoffed. The sooner Luhan let the mage do what he was actually good at doing, magic, the safer they’d all be. But at least it seemed the templar had come up with a contingency plan. They’d all have been dead had Xiumin not saved them before. 

 

 

 

 

 

They heard the bears before they saw them, because of course they couldn’t avoid them. It wouldn’t be an adventure if they had, Baekhyun silently grieved. Really, it was just going to slow them down and tire everybody out. How pesky. 

At least that was how Baekhyun liked to think, to motivate himself. He quickly dived out of the line of attack and let the warriors rush forward. Jongin of course ran first, shield before him, flanked by Chanyeol and Jongdae. Baekhyun let fly the first of his arrows before settling in a good distance away where he had a cleaner shot in between those fighting. Luhan arrived last and in perfect time to block a particularly vicious paw swipe that Chanyeol wasn’t quick enough to avoid. They’d had the misfortune to startle two of the adult bears and one of the cubs. The second cub was still beyond the tree line, Alistair nipping at it to keep it in line, but while Baekhyun fired off arrow after arrow into the tough hides of the two forward-most bears, he couldn’t help worrying about the location of the third one he’d counted among the tracks. Maybe, he'd just been wrong?

Behind the fighting, Sehun stood on the ground holding onto his two daggers with unsteady hands. He didn’t join the fighting, but he at least looked ready to defend himself, Baekhyun was pleased to note. Suho wasn’t even trying to fight. Instead he held the reigns of their two horses and Baekhyun sighed. If they hadn’t lost their other two horses to wolves in the Brecelian Forest, they might have ridden all this way and then they’d be in Redcliffe already, possibly even West Hills and Baekhyun would be free again to head off into the sunset, contract fulfilled. 

And yet here they were fighting bears. There was a lot of blood spray against the ground but no bodies yet, and no limbs either, thank somebody's Maker. Jongdae was a speedy fighter and dodged every attack, the shield warriors held their ground, right sword arms swinging, Chanyeol did a lot of damage, and yet the bears were a menace, giant furry swarms of gnashing teeth and razor sharp claws. The nearest of the cubs even meandered into the fray and took a fancy to Jongin’s unprotected right side. Before Baekhyun could even fit the next arrow to his bow to deter it, however, the cub froze — shards of ice blasting all around. 

“Alright!” Baekhyun cried. “That’s what I’m talking about it!”

He spared the mage one triumphant glance, checked on Luhan’s reaction — the templar appeared to have condoned this possibility — and went back into the fray. With magic now on their side, the bears would weaken a whole lot sooner. 

“Oh yeah, take that!” cried Chanyeol when the largest one went down. “You are so going to look great as a rug!” That left one adult, and one and a half cubs to be added to Chanyeol’s carpet pile, but Baekhyun was still concerned about the one he couldn’t see.

“Jongin!” he yelled above the fray. The warrior didn’t stop but Baekhyun knew he could hear him anyway. “There should have been three adults! Where’s the last one?”

“Maybe it’s wandered off!?” shouted Luhan in response. “I’d be happy with that!” The templar was red and flustered and had a gash across his forehead. 

The cub went down next, and Baekhyun would have felt sorry except it had taken too great a liking to Jongin. Now though the larger bear fought even harder. She was nearly down and the second cub along with her, when Baekhyun heard a shout from behind: Suho freaking out, Sehun shrieking in terror, and Blast it all! There was the third one. 

“Oh, sod it! I knew we were missing one!” Baekhyun yelled at the sight of the rogue bear bowling terribly fast towards the basically armor-less noble kid. He aimed an arrow and nearly got it between the eyes except Suho decided at that moment to try to be helpful. He shouted to draw its attention and the bear swerved instinctively. “Blast!” 

Chanyeol was rushing backwards now, but he was too slow. That left only Baekhyun and Xiumin, and right now the elf was entirely grateful for the mage’s existence. Unfortunately they still weren’t enough. Sehun was backing into the trees almost crying, and the bear turned towards him again. Not a single one of Baekhyun’s arrows or Xiumin’s spells were deterring it completely. Sehun was probably going to die if something wasn’t done about it, and then Baekhyun's contract would die with him. He wasn't getting paid to deliver a dead, bear-malled body to West Hills, and if that was too mercenary a thought, Baekhyun secretly liked the kid, noble born bastard human or not. He didn't want to see him get dead. 

He kept firing arrows, knowing he would soon reach his limit when suddenly there was a bloodcurdling scream, and Baekhyun couldn’t see Sehun anymore. Everyone in the fray stopped to panic, and Baekhyun’s blood ran cold. 

Noooo… please, no. He’d pray to the Maker, to Andraste, even the old gods if that wasn’t the sound of their charge going down. He heard Chanyeol cursing even louder, and then Jongin was rushing past him in a blur, only Luhan and Jongdae left behind to dispatch the second bear from which they couldn’t yet turn their backs. 

The two warriors Baekhyun had joined on the excursion reached the third bear in a rush of steal against flesh, Jongin taunting loudly to make it to turn around, but Baekhyun didn’t have time to spare the animal. He rushed past the fallen dwarf as fast as his legs could go, searching the ground for Sehun, and finding… nothing. On the other side of the skirmish Xiumin was doing the same, frantically scouring the trees for the fallen boy and his eyes met with Baekhyun’s briefly before they both started to panic double-time. 

“Sehun!!” the mage yelled, once more staring out through the trees.

“Sehun!” he added his chant to Xiumin’s. Together they broke past the bear and the warriors — the templar and assassin finally joining in on the last wild beast. Instead of helping, Baekhyun and the mage dove through the tree line, searching the ground, scouring through foliage, rushing as fast as they dared to go so as not miss any possible clue of where the boy had gone.

“Sehun! Where are you!?” Baekhyun called again.

“Can you hear us?” Xiumin kept shouting. “Sehun?! Sehun! He wouldn’t run off on his own, surely?” he questioned Baekhyun.

“No sane person would run this far away into the woods! Least of all him,” he replied. “He’s got to be here!” 

“Could he have been taken?” 

“By who??” Baekhyun cried. “All we saw was a bear and Sehun, and then nothing!” 

They continued searching, terror building up with every lost and wasted second of time, wandering apart as far as they could all the while keeping sight of each other. Baekhyun wondered offhandedly if the templar would freak out, but to his mind, Xiumin couldn’t possibly use this opportunity to wander off. He seemed genuinely worried about the boy and Baekhyun was grateful to have him out here. 

A weak, low shout caused them to pause, steps freezing in place so that they didn’t disturb the sound echoing around them. They heard only the sounds of the battle beyond, the squawk of a few lone birds, and then... someone else breathing?

“To your left!” Xiumin shouted excitedly. “Is that him?!”

They found Sehun in a huddle almost beneath a log, his green tunic shirt nearly blending in with the grass around him. 

“Sehun! You cursed human, what are you doing hiding away there!” Baekhyun knew no other relief than to berate the boy who was shivering uncontrollably with tears spilling down his eyes. 

“Baekhyun, I don’t think he crawled here on his own,” said the mage with an eye to their immediate surroundings.

“Shite, I know that,” Baekhyun said more softly. “I’m just glad he’s here.”  He knelt by the boy while Xiumin turned frantically in a circle looking for whatever had brought him here. For all the fear in the boy’s expression, he seemed remarkably calm when Baekhyun touched his forehead. 

“We got you, it’s okay.” 

Sehun couldn’t speak. His words came out in a slurred stutter before he gave up completely. Only his eyes implored Baekhyun’s as if to say he was okay, and then he met Xiumin’s, and then two more bodies exploded in through the brush behind them as Jongin and Chanyeol appeared hovering over Baekhyun’s head. 

They didn’t ask questions, not when Baekhyun shook his head not to speak. Chanyeol lifted the startled boy into his arms and started walking away, and Baekhyun’s legs finally failed him, the adrenaline wearing off and he couldn’t manage to stand upright, he was so relieved to find Sehun alive. Xiumin leaned over to try to help him up, but Jongin got there first. Two strong arms beneath his arms that lifted him into the air and then held him while Baekhyun regained his center of gravity. He took one moment to lean back into Jongin’s armored chest and breathe a couple good times, and when he finally took a step forward to walk on his own, Jongin seemed hesitant to let him go. 

“Where’s Luhan?” Xiumin asked the warrior before Baekhyun could assure him he was fine.

“Back with the horses,” said Jongin succinctly. “I figure he figures you’re coming back, so unless you want to disappoint him, let’s go.”

The mage didn’t argue. The three of them followed in Chanyeol’s large wake back to the highway, and Baekhyun knew there’d be more questions than anyone had answers for when they finally sat down to talk this day out. 


	7. Ashes to Hands

Chanyeol laid Sehun down in the grass near the roadside, just behind where Suho held onto their horses and Jongdae stood surveying the carcass of the third bear. Baekhyun and Jongin crowded around the noble boy, silently examining him for any wounds or injuries, although it appeared to Xiumin that Sehun was more shocked than anything else. 

The mage was the last one out of the tree line, and he couldn’t help notice Luhan’s face of wonderment when he returned. No matter what Jongin might have said, Xiumin knew Luhan thought he’d be gone. He also knew that instead of running, Xiumin was stalking wordlessly up to the templar like the stupid apostate he was, and… returning the staff. 

The templar accepted it, all without a spoken word. His expression was kind of funny, however, and Xiumin had to smirk. That drew Luhan’s concern.

“What is it?” demanded the templar, offended. He stared at the staff newly placed in his hand. “Where’s the trick?” 

Xiumin smiled. “There’s no trick. You said I could retrieve this if we got into trouble, we did, and now I’m returning it.”

Luhan still looked suspicious. “So you are… Does, does this mean you will also come with me to the Circle Tower?”

“Are you asking me nicely?”

“I…” Luhan couldn’t finish the thought. For all that Xiumin seemed to be playing a game, there wasn’t anything truly ‘nice’ to his tone of voice. He spoke deliberately, as if Luhan’s word was law whether he asked the mage or not, and Xiumin enjoyed confusing him, letting him think that may be so.

Perhaps the templar was as stupid as Xiumin had first thought him, but Xiumin had no intention of walking sweetly into the Circle Tower. It was Luhan’s misfortune that pity moved him to leave the mage unbound. If they kept this up, Xiumin would have Luhan believing they were equals and that Xiumin could be trusted, when Luhan had no business trusting him. He’d slip away long before they got to the north beacon of Lake Calenhad. Perhaps, since they were going to Redcliffe first, there would be his opportunity.

“Xiumin!” Baekhyun was calling him, while Luhan had yet to speak. There was still a bit of a crowd around Sehun, although Chanyeol was starting to usher them all backwards to let the boy have room to breathe. Jongin stood off to the side with an extremely worried expression. Alistair prowled around the tree line sniffing for whatever had nagged Sehun. 

Baekhyun looked rather calmer now as Xiumin approached. 

“Did he say anything?” asked the mage.

“Nothing that makes sense,” said Jongin. “Best we can make out, he was backing up to avoid the bear and something grabbed him.”

“And, we still don't know what,” Baekhyun concluded. He and Xiumin exchanged that look again. 

“You suspect the person or creature that's been following us though?” Luhan had not stayed back, nor could he stay out of the conversation.

Chanyeol looked up sharply from the ground, and unfortunately Luhan's voice carried in the wind and even Jongdae and Suho heard him speak. Their faces ranged between mildly intrigued to terribly alarmed. 

“And, here we go again.” Baekhyun sighed and strode off to explain the situation as best he could. 

Xiumin knelt beside Sehun on the grass to examine him himself. He'd started to fuss already over Chanyeol's mothering and that was the best sign yet that he was going to be okay. Unlike Chanyeol though, Xiumin was gentler and Sehun actually let him touch his face, arms and parts of his body, or at least he did so with less scowling. Until Xiumin accidentally brushed along a spot on Sehun's right side below his armpit. Sehun made a face, like Xiumin had hit a bruise. The mage and Chanyeol both froze.

“May I?” said Xiumin, pulling at Sehun's untucked shirt. 

The boy nodded, vaguely embarrassed. 

Slowly Xiumin scrunched the fabric up revealing a pale stretch of skin. There, just along the edge of his ribs was a mark. No bruise, as Xiumin expected to see. Instead, Sehun's skin bore the mark of a hand print. It was neither large, nor tiny, but it had the definite shape of a human hand. It was grey, as if the skin marked by it was starting to decay, although oddly enough it was already beginning to fade. Sehun squirmed, craning his head trying to see what it was that had Chanyeol and Xiumin so fascinated, and when he finally saw it, a torturous gasp echoed from his lips. Xiumin winced, tugged the shirt back into place before it drew the others' attention, and he sent Chanyeol a warning glance.

“Just dirt, probably,” he said quickly. “And it's already rubbing off, Sehun. No need to worry.”  

Sehun acted like he didn't want to believe it, but Xiumin could sound persuasive when he wanted to. He soothed the boy's bangs and smiled like a healer. He'd always had a great bedside manner, although restorative powers were not one of his specialties.

“Should we make camp here?” Jongin questioned Luhan when Xiumin stood up again. “We need the rest. Chanyeol will want to skin the bears. This is as good a place as any unless...” he trailed off and stared pointedly at Sehun. 

“I think it's fine,” said Xiumin. “As you say, it's as good a place as any. Plus, our dinner's already lying on the ground. We'll eat good bear meat tonight.”

 

 

 

 

 

It should have bothered Luhan that Xiumin was becoming a sage of wisdom within the traveling party. Most everyone including the templar himself were already deferring to the mage’s insight concerning people. That had happened naturally and seamlessly along the way. Luhan almost  flattered himself that it had something to do with how Xiumin treated Luhan, his should-be captor, with a cautious respect. At the very least he treated him more as an individual, on par with the other humans [elves and dwarves] in their party. To Luhan, he was more reserved than he was with Sehun for example, but the level of respect the others now had for him was incredible, and it was only growing with time.

The latest occurrence with the creature following their group, and Baekhyun and Xiumin’s joint rescue of Sehun, pushed things over an even higher pedestal. Xiumin was now the leading expert of the hand print on Sehun’s side, and the only reason Luhan knew of this was because Xiumin had told Jongin, and the warrior had been open enough to pass it onto Luhan. They were now discussing the matter discretely on the other side of the fire with Baekhyun, soft enough that their most candid observations would not be overheard by Sehun. The boy sat mostly by himself, more sullen today than when he’d been dressed as a girl, and Luhan took compassion on him. 

“Hungry?” he said for way of introduction. He sat down beside him, although Sehun did not look up. Chanyeol was still overseeing the task of skinning the bears with Jongdae, and Suho had surprisingly shown an aptitude for roasting the newly fleshed meat. 

Sehun grunted. Luhan suspected that was as much as an affirmative as he would share.

“What’s the first thing you want to do when we get to Redcliffe?” Luhan changed the topic abruptly. That seemed to pique his interest. 

“Sleep in a real bed for a night.” Sehun smiled.

“The inn there isn’t quite as comfortable as the ones you are used to, but it’ll do.”

“You’ve been there?” The boy actually turned his head towards him.

“Once, about a year ago. When I was just transferred to Ferelden. I was part of an escort from the Circle Tower to Redcliffe and back again. Nothing fancy.”

Sehun hummed to himself, mulling over something in his head Luhan couldn’t read. Then he asked, “What’s the Circle Tower like?”

Luhan shrugged, surprised. “It’s drafty. Like any other castle I guess. And it’s situated on an island in the lake so it’s pretty cold and—“

“No, I mean like for mages.”

“What?”

“You… you’re taking Xiumin there. I just wanted to know what it’ll be like for him.” 

“Oh.” Luhan had no immediate answer. “It’s… nice, I suppose. Never a dull day. There’s lot of things for mages to do and…” Sensing Sehun displeasure, Luhan quickly cleared his throat and hastened to explain. “I mean, it’s not a prison like people think it is. Sure we watch over mages, but it’s for everyone’s safety, including theirs.” 

“But what if he doesn't want to go?”

“He… I… he needs to go though,” said Luhan stubbornly.

“For everyone’s safety,” Sehun repeated, like he couldn’t really agree. 

“Yes.”

They let the matter sit for a moment, Sehun quietly reflecting while Luhan discreetly looked around to make sure Xiumin wasn’t suddenly sitting close enough to have heard. He wasn’t though; he and Sehun’s two protectors were still deep in counsel. Sehun followed his gaze.

“I don’t want to go to West Hills either,” he said then. 

“How come?”

Sehun shrugged. “I don’t know why I need to be there. I just wanted to stay home.” 

With that part at least Luhan could agree. He hadn’t wanted to leave Nevarra either. He hadn’t wanted to be sent as a mere teenager into the Chantry, not to read the Chant of the Light and become another 'brother' as he'd originally thought, but to learn fighting and work his way into the Templar Order. It wasn't a life he would have chosen for himself, but not many in this world got to craft their own destiny.

He tried to share this with Sehun. Luhan got as far as being sworn into the ranks and then receiving a directive to report to Lake Calenhad, and how upset he’d been with that decision, when Sehun scoffed loudly.

“And now you go about telling  _others_ where to go.” 

Luhan held in an exasperated sigh. So Sehun would probably fail out of any military order; it was probably a good thing he was born to the noble class, even if he  _was_  conceived at the wrong time in the wrong bedchamber. He’d do very well abiding by his conscious, wherever his conscious happened to fly. That was the problem with the upper classes — they were very good at giving orders for things they wanted done, but not enamored of being told to do things. Nor did they understand the people whose lives were spent doing what others ordered, if those goals did not happen to line up with their own ideals.

He didn’t try to argue with him now though. It wouldn’t have done any good and in any case, the real matter they were discussing, Xiumin, hadn’t yet shown a sign that he was trying to run off. Not since his self-botched attempt during the bandit raid several days ago. Perhaps he had nothing better to do than stay with the party. Maybe he really had decided to go with Luhan to the Circle. Or maybe he thought he could stray whenever he felt like it, or that Luhan wouldn’t be able to stop him from going. Maybe Luhan would let him go anyways…

“Are… are you two hungry?” 

Luhan startled and looked around. When standing, Suho stood about as high as Luhan’s rib cage, but for now he actually had to look up at the dwarf who hovered above him with a portion of their dinner. Not only bits of meat, but several bowls of sloppy gruel soup. 

“You cooked this?” Luhan asked, and he smiled while he accepted the bowls for both him and Sehun. “Thank you. Will you sit with us?”

Sehun looked hesitant at Luhan’s offer, side-eying the dwarf suspiciously, but he didn’t oppose it entirely. Chanyeol was headed to the others with similar foodstuffs, and Jongdae was still playing with his knives beside the carcass of one of the dead bears. 

“Thank you,” said Suho as he plopped down. 

They ate in silence, and Luhan was surprised the gruel didn’t taste only of dust. It seemed their dwarf knew what herbs to collect to make food taste edible, and though it wasn’t much, it was the best meal Luhan had had since he left the Circle Tower. 

“Were you a cook with the uhhh…” Luhan hesitated to complete that sentence, and Suho looked just as nervous. Ever since Jongin’s pronouncement that the man could stay with them as far as Redcliffe, he’d effectively if unofficially announced a truce upon Suho’s involvement with the smugglers. 

“With the… Carta?” Suho squeaked out in the end. 

No one had argued with Jongin. If Luhan had been a real soldier, and not just a Chantry military lackey — really Sehun should praise him for this — Luhan might have felt obliged to hand Suho over to the authorities just as he was with Xiumin. Yet, he had other matters to attend. 

“Yeah,” said Luhan.

“No, not really. It’s just something I kind of learned along the way. I’m not good with… fighting, or dealing, or… lying. So, I just kind of followed and did whatever I had to.”

Jongdae interrupted them before Luhan got a chance to ask how Suho had ended up with the Carta. The assassin certainly had a knack for appearing around people without warning. 

“Hey, good food, friend.” He had served himself and he squished himself cozily into a place around the fire beside Suho. The dwarf was learning to contain how uncomfortable he felt around the assassin, but his fear was still there, just simmering. 

Luhan tipped his head but didn’t say much. Another truce they’d accidentally agreed upon, having an assassin in the party, but Jongdae’s fighting skills had been absolutely essential, and he was rather good-natured in general.

“So I’m guessing we’re the uncool group tonight, huh?” 

“What do you mean?” asked Luhan.

“Well, I mean look at us here… them over there. It’s obvious we’re the outcasts. No offense to the boy of course,” Jongdae quickly apologized to Sehun. 

“Speak for yourself.” Sehun would not take his apology.  Luhan did not point out that either that he, a reputable knight was here as well, while his apostate sat with the warriors. 

“Say, what are they doing over there anyway?” 

“Probably planning complicated maneuvers to keep me safe in the future,” said Sehun with a petulant sigh. 

“Oh, from whatever it was that tried to run off with you? I guess you don’t know who it was?” asked Jongdae.

“Obviously, I do not,” Sehun grunted, faster than Luhan would have thought possible. 

“Didn’t see him very well, is that it? Oh well, good thing you have a strong band of men protecting you. And then turning their backs on you while you sit with the uncool crowd. Hey, at least Luhan’s mostly respectable. You must feel safe with a  _templar_  sitting beside you.”

Sehun practically sneered at the man. Luhan guessed it was his way of dealing with unease, although Sehun  _had_  almost been kidnapped earlier. However he needed to deal with that, Luhan wouldn’t fault him too much. He did, however, keep more than a keen eye on their surroundings as the sun went down, just to be safe. Until they got to Redcliffe he considered Sehun just as much his charge as he did Xiumin. Luhan wondered, just when had he became so concerned for other people. He was usually so good at sticking to the plan laid out for him, and this leg of his journey was  _not_  part of the plan.

 

 

 

Before it became too late, Jongdae insisted on starting another round of weapons training. After assuring everyone that he was completely fine, Sehun agreed to taking up a pair of spare daggers and, under Chanyeol’s watchful eye, he copied and followed Jongdae’s movements with a zeal Luhan hadn't yet seen on the boy. 

Luhan laid himself up by a tree, back resting on the trunk with his arms folded. Baekhyun was happily scribbling something into a thin unbound journal, and where he picked it up was anyone's guess. Suho was still completely no good with daggers and it certainly didn’t help that Chanyeol glared at him every chance he got.

“I still don’t know why we allow this,” the two-handed warrior cried out after one particularly harrowing experience when Suho accidentally flung out his hand and let go one of the blades. After ducking to avoid being hit, Chanyeol finally had enough and decided the dwarf had absolutely no business trying to fight like this.

“You’re right,” Jongdae callously agreed with him. Chanyeol looked confused that he would even say that. 

“I know! But... huh?”

“Daggers are no good for him. I think I know what'll work better though. Chanyeol, why don’t you teach him how to use a sword? He’s got arm muscle. He could swing a larger weapon. A mace perhaps? Why don’t you show him?” Chanyeol looked at the assassin like he'd gone mad. 

“Absolutely not! You’re not going to distract me from watching over Sehun. That- that’s not your job!”

“Chanyeol, friend, believe me I’d much rather watch over Suho,” Jongdae winked at the dwarf, “But, alas! The weapon chooses the warrior, and he’s not destined to learn my craft. This one on the other hand...” He demonstrated Sehun who was holding his blades with a lot more precision than even two nights ago. There was mixed, casual pride in his eyes, but then his eyes shifted back to Suho. “Yes, it’s a pity. Teach the dwarf. Then maybe he won’t fall over his own feet while trying to distract a bear. Hmm. Yes?”

Jongdae smiled so winningly that it struck Chanyeol speechless. Amazingly though, he agreed.

 

 

“He’s going to kill that man one of these nights,” said a soft voice a little while later, chuckling near Luhan’s ear.

“Who's killing who, Jongdae or Chanyeol?” said Luhan. 

“Perhaps we could bet on it, but my vote is on Chanyeol hyperventilating out of pure frustration alone.” 

Xiumin sat by him, legs crossed as he rested forward on his elbows, and Luhan let the sounds of the forest and their fire, and the metal from the practice grounds wash over and between them. Every night for nearly a week he'd sat with Xiumin, and he suddenly realized that, bad meals aside, he would actually miss this in some capacity.

“We’ll be in Redcliffe in two days probably,” he told the mage.

Xiumin was silent.

“So maybe they’ll both live until then,” Luhan continued. 

Xiumin hummed encouragingly.

“Or perhaps we’ll all get eaten by bears, and then there won’t be anything more to fuss over.”

The mage’s soft laughter was music to his ears. “I think if bears are the worst thing we come across again, we’ll be fine.” 

Luhan started yawning and looked around for their bedroll. Alistair was sleeping on it, and he didn't have the energy yet to disturb the animal. “What’s worse than bears?” he asked.

“Hmm, more bandits? I mean, more than three or four bandits like we've been getting. A giant bear?” Xiumin suggested. He clasped his palms together, thinking about more options. “Werewolves? How about a giant?”

“There aren’t any giants in these parts.”

“So they say. What about giant spiders though? Or maybe we should just get ready to face a dragon? This is the age of the dragon, you know. I hear they've woken up, and they like to hunt.”

Luhan laughed. “Us fighting a dragon? That’ll be the day. Nobody is equipped to fight a dragon.”

“Perhaps. Although I hear it can be done. Okay, so no giants or dragons. What’s worse than giants or dragons though? Mages?” 

Luhan drew in his breath, knew Xiumin was waiting to see how or if he would answer. A tricky question from the tricky person he was discovering Xiumin to be.

“Not  _all_  mages are scary…” he proposed slowly, and Xiumin nodded. 

“Good, good,” he said softly. Then, even lighter under his breath, and Luhan hadn’t known that was possible, he asked, “How about… darkspawn?”

 

 

 

 

That night, and for several nights after, Sehun would dream about that ordeal. Being frightened and panicked, not remembering how to use the weapons in his hand, and doubting they'd have any use against a bear as well. How he'd backed up to get away, found himself cornered by a tree and not knowing what to do. 

Then something had grabbed him, pulling him to safety, taking him away. Something that seemed no more than whirl of shadows, but it had a corporeal feel. He'd had no time to protest, not when it was tugging him out of the line of the bear's attack and deeper into the forest, a hand under his armpit, a matching one on the other side and, Sehun hadn't shown them where the other mark had been. The one beneath his knee where, when Sehun had panicked and dropped to the ground, he had been picked up and carried away. Before he was laid down in the grove by the fallen tree and left there. 

Had the person, the thing, meant to leave him? Or was he startled by Baekhyun's and Xiumin's sudden pursuit? Sehun didn't know. But in his dreams his kept searching out for the face of the creature, and in his dreams, just like in the day, he couldn't see past the swirling grey robes of whoever carried him, head shrouded and body covered except for the ashy hands that held him. 

Xiumin wouldn't confirm what the hand print on his skin had looked like, and within minutes it was already faded, but the touch and the feel remained, even if they were no longer visible. Would Sehun die now? Did he have the taint? Or was Blight sickness no more than a rush of adrenaline, fear, and uncertainty? He didn't feel like death. Scared and mystified, perhaps, but not like death. 

 

 

 

 

CODEX UPDATED: 

Handwritten journal entry written in a sloppy hand, indicating a youthful author who obviously perished before completing his note.

> _**My mum used to tell me that Bears were evil little blokes, who ate bad little Ferelden Children when they wouldn’t listen to their parents. I believed her, she was a scary one my mum was. But here I sit, writing about bears when I am out here looking for one of the dreaded creatures. I can’t think of any other way to prove my love for my dear and lovely and precious fair lady then to deliver her a bear pelt. I saw her, I did, on the road towards Redcliffe, her hair long and beautiful. A bit manly, sure, but nothing some good ale can’t fix. The lady, not the bear. I hope catching one of these roary beasts will make her mine. Maker’s breathe, I don’t even see why I am writing this down, I – just heard a roar. Mum would think I was so brav~_

Here ends the entry, blood splattered on the binding.

 

 

 

 

“Baekhyun, what are you doing over there by the bear? We’re supposed to be leaving now,” Jongin called over his shoulder to the elf who was bending over suspiciously next to the carcass.

“Nothing, nothing. I’m coming now. Just leaving a little poetic vindication.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This CODEX entry was written by AO3 user and my fic-writing pal: London9Calling
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/users/London9Calling


	8. Respite, While the World Still Turns

The walled gates of Redcliffe town could not have come any sooner. Baekhyun scouted them from a distance before the rest of the party caught up, and when they finally caught sight of the gleaming piece of rock wall, almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Jongdae even looked vaguely happy about being here, although he had long since hidden away his assassin's blade and donned regular clothing. The exceptions remained Suho, whose state of freedom was now on the line since he was after all a criminal, and Xiumin. 

“I have to. I'm sorry,” Luhan told him apologetically when he gently nudged Xiumin's hands behind his back to tie them together.

The mage rolled his eyes and sighed, apology not accepted. 

“It's just because we're going into the town. If... if anyone asks what you're doing here, then I need to be able to tell them-”

“You need to be able to tell everyone that you're transporting a deadly apostate mage, and you think that won't worry people?” Xiumin challenged. “Don't tell me this is all just for appearance's sake?”

In a way it was, Luhan knew that. But he also knew that Redcliffe was potentially a nifty place to make a grand escape, and Xiumin unbound could flee in almost any direction and Luhan would never find him again. Also, there were templars stationed here. Luhan couldn't risk any of his fellows seeing him playing nice with a prisoner they literally had a warrant on.

“If we run into any other templars, you are not to speak to them,” said Luhan sternly.

“What? Afraid I'll tell them that we snuggle behind their backs?” 

“I'm telling you not to, because they'll probably just throw you in a caged wagon and you can spend the rest of the trip staring out between bars,” said Luhan, more snarky than he intended. He almost felt ashamed for it, but then Xiumin responded again.

“Ooh, maybe I'd like that better though. At least that way I wouldn't have to walk all the way to the Circle Tower.”

He didn't mean it, those words, Luhan thought surely. There was no way Xiumin would endure sitting in a crate on wheels, chained to the posts like an animal. The mage spoke cockily, but Luhan refused to keep on talking. He let the matter drop without a fuss, and Xiumin did too, and soon they were preparing to enter the town like just another normal templar and his prisoner. 

Right before the gates the dwarf stopped walking and literally began to slow-panic before anybody even realized it.

“What's the matter?” Jongin asked him coldly.

“I... I think I'll just let you guys go on from here,” said Suho with a shaky voice. He actually started to walk backwards, one slow step after another, but then Jongdae slapped him on the back.

“Nonsense! You'll stay with us. Isn't that right?”

“Us?” demanded Chanyeol. “I believe,  _sir_ , that our contract with you ended at the gates of Redcliffe.” His politeness was forced, overly enunciated.

“What? Oh come on now. I believe I like you well enough and surely I'm not so much of a bother that we couldn't continue to keep each other company for another day or so? Towns are such lonely places...” he sighed wistfully, cutely. Chanyeol sneered at him.

“You want to hang around us so that when some highborn lords ends up dead in an alleyway and people see you, they'll mistake us for your friend? Absolutely not.”

“I'm not going to kill anyone in Redcliffe!” Jongdae insisted. “You think this town is important enough for people to die in?” He laughed. 

Meanwhile Chanyeol was halfway into a raging fit. “You think this is funny? I would sooner turn you over to the guards the minute we enter the town than spend another day with-”

“Chanyeol.”

Everyone stopped to look at the other warrior, Jongin sighing at them all sadly and not even looking their way. 

“What?” Chanyeol asked.

Jongin turned around, arms crossed before his chest, frowning slightly. “Let him do as he wants. You tell the first guard we see, and two things will happen: First, he's going to disappear like lightning. Second, you'll be the one important enough to die in a town like Redcliffe so...  _Leave it._ ” 

Chanyeol looked officially cowed, still bristling underneath at the reprimand, but silent. Luhan couldn't really fault him too much. Being seen in the company of an assassin was dangerous enough if anyone noticed the connection, but then the assassin himself was no laughing matter. They didn't know anything about Jongdae except that he was a skilled fighter and sly as a fox. 

The assassin of course liked this turn of events. He nodded happily at Jongin, and when they started to walk again he actually sidled up next to Jongin and placed his arm around his shoulders. “Have I ever mentioned that I like your attention to tactics? We should talk sometime! Perhaps tonight over a nice hearth fire. Mmm, I could do with some fine ale and a loaf of hot bread.”

On his other side, he continued to nudge Suho along with his arm loosely around his shoulders, and the dwarf walked like a zombie into who knew what doom. Chanyeol and Baekhyun both looked irritated, and that just left Sehun, Xiumin, Luhan and Alistair to make up the rear, each acting calm in their own ways.

 

 

 

 

 

It was definitely an improvement, Sehun thought to himself, looking around the room. Out loud, he just said, "Hmph. I guess it'll do."

Their first foray into the town, Jongin had lead them to the inn and contracted a large room on the topmost floor for them to sleep in. It had no beds, but the straw on the grounds along one wall was newly strewn, and there were blankets of all sorts and even a few feather pillows. Sehun immediately commandeered two of them, kicked off his boots and sprawled out. After spending weeks on the road with most of these men, and a good week with even the newcomers, he had no modesty nor fear of looking lowborn. They'd been sleeping in dirt already. 

"At least it's a roof over our heads," Baekhyun noted with mild glee. "Although seriously, Sehun. There are hours yet until dusk. Why are you are sleeping? Don't you want to explore?!"

Sehun huffed, ignoring him as he plumped his pillow, vaguely following in the corner of his eyes how Luhan was leading the mage into the other corner of the loft and finally untying him. There was a strict warning not to try anything funny, to which Xiumin only snorted. Sehun didn't blame him. The mage had done nothing weird at all since they'd entered into Redcliffe. Or really, anything at all this whole trip from what Sehun could tell.

More importantly though to Sehun was Baekhyun's nagging, because he did not want to leave his spot. The elf had been itching to explore the town since the moment they entered the gates, and only Jongin's stern determination that they make finding shelter a priority kept Baekhyun from mapping every nook and cranny, house, shop, stall, and assorted barrel that they passed.

"Just think of the things we're missing..." He was still sniffing now. Sehun refused to acknowledge him. 

"Plenty of time for that later," Jongin told him.

"Not if we're leaving for West Hills in the morning," the elf pouted. "I think I'll just... pop out for a bit on my own."

The warrior sighed. "No," said Jongin, "you won't."

"But-" Baekhyun started to protest.

"I'll go out with you later, if you insist upon it. Will that make you happy?" 

Sehun almost choked on a laugh. Baekhyun's sudden excitement was too much to handle, as was Baekhyun in general. 

Heavy footsteps lumbered up the narrow staircase that breached the landing on the other side of the room. Chanyeol's head was the first thing to appear, and far behind him - or rather, below him - trailed the dwarf still looking miserable. Jongin had promised they'd discuss his future once they had some privacy in the inn, and Sehun was actually more keen than he cared to admit to know what would happen. He hadn't talked much to the dwarf, but Sehun rather liked Suho. He was pleasant, and a good cook, even with the little food they'd had to work with on the road. Maybe, if Jongin didn't have other, grander schemes for him, he could take the dwarf with him to West Hills? Sehun frowned. Perhaps that was too much to contend with though. Suho was, no matter how they looked at it, a sworn member of the Carta... and besides, West Hills probably already had a decent cook. 

Chanyeol looked exhausted, and also very grateful to sit down on a real chair. There were only two in the whole room, both angled around a very rickety, tiny little table. No one took the other seat. Baekhyun was too jittery, Jongin too uptight, Suho too nervous. Luhan was sitting on the floor already next to the mage, so Chanyeol just sighed and propped up his dirty boots on the second chair. Sehun tried not to look too annoyed because, what if he wanted to sit in that chair later?

"Well," said the taller warrior, oblivious to Sehun's partial scowl. "What now? We just rest here until tomorrow? Get some food and start out at first light?"

"That's the plan," Jongin agreed.

"Good!" said Chanyeol. "I could do with a half day to just sit around and- wait!" He paused suddenly, looking around the room in a panic. "Wait a second... where's the ass- I mean, Jongdae!?"

Everyone else stared around the room, also suddenly noticing his absence. 

"He's gone!" cried Chanyeol suspiciously. At once he turned to the dwarf and glared at him suspiciously, his long legs hitting the ground and he stood, towering over the smaller man, one hand behind his shoulder on the hilt of his greatsword. "He was behind you! Where did he go?! Did he say something? Anything?! Maker's breath, I knew it. He's disappeared and now we're all going to die in the night!"

"Would you calm down?" Jongin pleaded, bored.

"What? Why?" Chanyeol demanded, but already his tone was a shade less touchy. Sehun was almost impressed. 

"It's none of our business what he gets up to. If he's gone, then fine. Why are you worried?" said Jongin.

"He's probably right," Baekhyun agreed. "Hey, now there's more blankets we don't have to share. Let's hope he doesn't come back, huh?"

For the first time ever, Sehun caught a hint of disappointment on Suho's face, before it was erased a moment later. He smirked again, eliciting a sound that drew Baekhyun's attention, but since he had nothing really to say he just shrugged it off. No one paid him any mind, and Sehun was okay with that. They'd made it to Redcliffe and that was farther than Sehun thought he'd make it to in one piece. After weeks on the road with bad food and no hygiene, wolves and bears and bandits, and things following them,  _things_ grabbing him... if Sehun wasn't dead yet, he had the Maker and Andraste and every holy thing known to Thedas to thank for preserving his life. A lost assassin who hadn't killed him out on the road when he had every opportunity to do so wasn't nearly worthy of Sehun's concern. They were behind strong walls now with a lake for a second barrier, and West Hills was supposedly only a two days' ride from here.

It would be over soon, this part of his life. He'd meet his father soon and two brothers. He wondered if either of them had died yet, and he kind of hoped they hadn't. Sehun didn't want to be an Arl, not really. Arls had major responsibilities, and if they did something wrong, assassins like Jongdae killed them in the night, or duels happened over stupid matters of honor, or sicknesses were contrived by unnatural means... And when Sehun thought about it all in those terms, suddenly he wanted never to leave this topfloor inn in Redcliffe with the fresh straw and feather pillows. Maybe he should have paid more attention to everything the assassin had been instructing him, wielding daggers. It might actually come in handy one day. He drifted off into a nap recounting the postures and stances and defensive maneuvers that Jongdae had begun to teach him, wishing he could have gotten in a few more lessons. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CODEX UPDATED:

_ A letter addressed from the Arl of West Hills, to his loyal servant 'J'. _

> I hope this reaches you in time. I'm sending it by special courier to Redcliffe so that you may read it before traveling hence. Do not come to West Hills. Illness has taken over nearly everyone in the arling, that seasonal bog fever that so often visits us every few years. My physicians say it is not worse than a great epidemic, and we have lost no more than a couple house servants and half a dozen villagers. I would fear though for my son's life if he were to join us in this state, since the fever is particular to the bogs, and he will have no history of it, no immunity. I have seen travelers, non-natives sucumb to it in a dreadful way. I beg of you not to bring him until the season has passed, even as I long to see the son I've yet to lay eyes upon. I am sure he is a fine man, and you have done well to protect him and bring him this far, but I request that you tarry. I leave a purse of coin with the Chantry sisters in Redcliffe. Please retrieve it in my name, hire more good men, and take my son to his aunt, my precious sister. When the season of sickness is over, I look forward to both of you safely returning in the spring.
> 
> Maker's Speed,
> 
> 'O'

 

 

Jongin refolded the letter, jaw closing sternly tight as he returned his focus to the innkeeper whose task it was to pass it to him. He knew the man only by reputation from the few visits he'd made with the Arl to Redcliffe in the past. 

"You said this arrived by courier from West Hills? Three weeks ago?" Jongin made him repeat. 

"That's what the lad said, and when 'e arrived. Said I was to give it to ya when you passed this way. Urgent matter. I did what I was told. You got your letter."

It was unlikely that the man would lie. He'd probably received a packet of coin for his troubles. Travelers always stopped at inns, and so this method of mail delivery wasn't uncommon or unlikely. And still Jongin thought it was odd. The Arl hadn't discussed a back-up plan with Jongin before he left, but then West Hills hadn't been plagued with a serious strain of bog fever in nearly half a decade. Jongin knew well that the vapors could be deadly to those unused to it.  As a child he'd almost died from it. To transport the lord's son and the two other hired escorts could prove disastrous. 

"Has anyone come in from West Hills since this letter?" he pressed.

"'aven't seen a soul. Or if they've come, no one that stopped be 'ere."

"Thank you."

"Not a problem, sir. I thank you..."

The innkeeper stared at him pointedly, and for a moment Jongin didn't know why. Then he recovered, and remembered to take out a small coin, Jongin's end of the bargain in payment for the letter's safe keeping. He was still musing over the curious instructions when sneaky fingers stole the parchment right out of his hands.

"What!" he cried, but it was only Baekhyun.

"Let's see what you got here," said the elf, oblivious to the commotion he was making in the inn. It was already bad enough that his flaming red hair and sharp ears were drawing attention. Now he had to leap a full few body lengths away from Jongin's weak attempts to retrieve the letter. He failed, because Baekhyun was positively twirling to keep it to himself, opening it wide and silently reading the missive.

"Curious," is all he said once done. And then he calmly handed it back. "Bog fever? Is that a thing?"

"It is. And it's dangerous," Jongin informed him in a low tone. "I'd rather we not talk about this here though, please."

Chanyeol was still upstairs watching over Sehun, Luhan and Xiumin were resting. The dwarf was doing who knew what. They'd left him musing in silence when Jongin had gone downstairs, Baekhyun right on his heels. Jongin stuffed the letter between his chest and tunic and lead the way outside. There were a few other places about that he wanted to check in on, some stalls just to see their wares, acquaintances he'd met over the years. And now he just wanted to find anyone who might confirm that West Hills was indeed under lockdown. He didn't particularly want to keep traveling north. The western edge of Lake Calenhad wasn't the smoothest road to travel. So close to the Frostback Mountains, it saw lots of traffic and it was the main road running north-south from Gherlen's Pass, the only route from Ferelden that lead to the western kingdom of Orlais. It was also where the entrance to dwarven Orzammar lay. All of that meant more people on the road, and more merchant vehicles, which meant more bandits, which also meant Carta. 

"It sounds to me like your home is fever-cursed," said Baekhyun out of the blue.

"What?"

"You know. Like in the stories." Baekhyun's voice turned dramatic, tale-worthy. "Every ten years plague descends from the mountains, a witch's curse over spurned love... I don't suppose your Arl was ever engaged once to a beautiful woman who turned hag?"

"You're making up ridiculous stories."

"I know. But it could be plausible. Stranger tales do exist. Take the Brecelian Forest for example. A whole tribe of men - or hunters, rather - cursed by an elven Keeper for overstepping their territories, and all the men were turned into werewolves!"

"Fevers and werewolves aren't exactly the same thing, Baekhyun," sighed Jongin. He was leading the way through the streets, elbowing and jostling for room for them to walk, the elf right behind him in his ear,  _spouting nonsense_.

"Hey, I'm just making conversation." 

"Well, don't. I thought you wanted to explore Redcliffe, so do it. We're exploring."

"You call this exploring? I call this a tourist's path. Don't you know how to get off the beaten track? Alleyways and gardens are where life's at!"

"You mean you just want to rummage through people's trash and find some potatoes to eat?"

Behind him, the elf made a scathing noise, indicating he wasn't amused, or at least that he was pretending not to be amused. He mumbled a while more while Jongin smirked ahead of him unseen, but he did after that begin to take a more winding route through the town, the better to 'explore' it more fully. 

It was on their way down to a dockside blacksmith Jongin wanted to meet when Baekhyun brought up the letter again. 

"Does this mean we go north now?" 

Jongin didn't answer. As far as he knew, no one else in their party had any reason to be suspicious of the events in West Hills. No one knew of the second son's dueling accident, no one knew the third son lay ill from something far worse than bog fever. He'd been barely even conscious the last time Jongin saw him, and that was troubling to him, both personally and professionally as a sworn soldier to the family. For all Baekhyun's talk about fever-curses, the discussion may have hit closer than even Baekhyun suspected. Whether he'd been poisoned or something else like it, no son of the Arl's family was 'safe' from the other branch of title-hungry relatives. Out here in Redcliffe though, Jongin only had one duty and that was to keep Sehun safe and deliver him per his lord's instructions. The letter was an extension of that, and he would have to follow it. 

"Yes. North," he told Baekhyun succinctly.

"The letter was kind of cryptic. Does that mean you know where?"

"Yes, I know where my lord's sister lives. Less than a week's journey. About halfway to Orzammar from here."

"And we'll stay the winter there?" 

"I suppose so. What- what are you doing?"

The elf was undoing his rucksack and scrounging around in it noisily. He'd even stopped walking and made Jongin have to wait. "Nothing. Just checking my purse. I want to see if I have enough coin to contribute to some horses this time, or if I should just save up for winter furs. I wasn't planning to spend a winter under the shadow of the Frostbacks. Do you see this body?" He indicated himself with a pout. "It's tiny! It doesn't like winters. I'll need to bundle up."

"Save your coin for furs then, because we're definitely walking. I'll use the coin the Arl left for us to hire a mercenary to get us there."

Baekhyun stopped what he was doing and looked up sharply. "You want to hire another soldier? Why?"

Jongin frowned. "Because I don't like this particular road. It's dangerous, and we'll be down a few men, a few fighters."

"Oh, that's probably true," said Baekhyun, suddenly thinking this through. "Hey, you don't think Luhan could be persuaded to take the circular route around Lake Calenhad and continue with us?" he joked with a little laugh. 

Jongin joined him with a slight laugh of his own, a sound which evidently confused Baekhyun. The elf seemed to look at him, appreciative of the humor. It was disorienting, to say the least. 

"Come on. Let's finish your exploration of the docks, and then get back to the inn. We'll have a lot to talk about with the others."

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, in a shadier part of Redcliffe, outside a shanty leaning up against the town walls, the assassin stood in wait. He leaned against the structure, arms crossed across his chest, one toe digging into the dirt across his other ankle, and his hood was pulled loosely but stealthily over his head. The others hadn't even noticed him disappear, each of them anxious or happy for one reason or another to be in the town finally. Jongdae wondered if they'd let him slip back in just as easily. Probably Chanyeol would resist, but Jongdae could handle him. An assassin of skill like he was wasn't only good with knives and poisons. He had a way with words too. And words were important. He guessed that the figure slipping through the alleyways towards him would agree. 

"Evening," he spoke to the man. " _For comes my brother distant._ "

" _For comes my savior soon_ ," was the reply.

Jongdae, satisfied with the line, pushed off from the wall to greet the man properly, a handshake, followed by a hearty hug as the man indicated they step into the shanty. He hunched over the hearth while Jongdae stood in the doorway, and finally pulled up a chair for the assassin to join him.

"Bard Jung, you are looking well. How's life in this rat hole of a town?"

The bard smiled cheekily. "More interesting than you might think." He shook his head, long dark mops of curls springing all over the place, a smile half formed upon his lips. "I keep my eyes and ears open." 

"Are the girls that lovely here?"

"Mmm, some of them are rather pleasant. I have something for you though."

"I was rather hoping you might." Jongdae was pleased, even if a bit surprised, at the change of topic. 

"You doubt my talents?" 

"Doubt your talents? Joon Young, my friend, never... would I ever... presume to doubt you," he play-mocked, eyes feasting mostly on the letter his colleague was already pulling from the inside of his instrument case. 

Joon Young held it up, waving the paper slightly, taunting Jongdae with its existence. "I expect due compensation now... but this I snagged off a courier from West Hills just last week. Hardly a courier actually, more like a kitchen wench on a super secret mission." He brought a finger across his lips and hushed dramatically. 

"Candy from a baby?" asked Jongdae.

"Even easier. Give me twice what I paid him - although, incidentally, it was a coin so badly scoffed he wouldn't even know it was only a rock - and you may have it."

"How about we drop the matter of coin and trade in secrets? How about it: one piece of paper for some juicy tales out of Denerim?"

They bargained for a while longer, and in the end, the bard left happily with more secrets to sell, and Jongdae left, a man a little bit wiser than he was before. He strolled unhurriedly back through Redcliffe, deciding to give his new friends a few more hours before he graced them with his presence once more, and from there he'd make his next plan of action. Before that, however, he'd drown the letter in the lake and leave it to the fishes.

 

 

 

CODEX UPDATED: 

_ A letter written in a shaky hand addressed to 'J' by 'J' _

> My friend, surely you have received my brother's letter about the bog fever, begging you not to return yet. Does this surprise you? It was not my father's hand at all, and there is no fever. I worry you will not come home, and whatever diversion Junsu takes you on will lead to a worse danger. Return, please! I beg of you. My brother recovers more and more each day from his wounds, and already schemes to keep his place as heir. He is worse now than our cousins, because his mind is turned to suspicion. He sees assassins in every corner. He doesn't trust father, he doesn't trust me, he doesn't trust the reason our father has sent for our half-brother. Jongin, I trust you know my heart and that I would never take by force something that is not mine. He may keep his titles, but I need you at my side! I am weakened still. This ailment, affliction, whatever it is refuses to be cured, and yet I linger. It will not beat me. Hurry back, and we may all fight this together. 
> 
> Your beloved friend,
> 
> Jaejoong


	9. Northward Plans

Sleeping that evening was a whole new kind of trial. Sure, it was indoors and out of the elements, and they'd had an actual tasty meal around dinnertime. They also had comfortable pallets on the floor and no fears of being eaten in the night. And yet nobody got much sleep until the small hours of the morning thanks in part to the shrill sounds of a male bard several floors below them, and the sounds of drunk merriment from all the other non-sleeping tavern guests.

"I swear, if I find that bard in the morning, I'm going to string him up by the neck so that he'll never sing again!" Baekhyun threatened after a particularly joyous shriek and lots of hurrahs. 

To Xiumin, it was all rather amusing. The sounds of life and laughter and entertainment, even if it wasn't very good entertainment. He'd been cooped up inside ever since they arrived with only Jongin and Baekhyun venturing out during the afternoon, and Chanyeol by himself with his bear pelts later in the evening. He'd come back a few hours later with a put-out expression and the pelts still over his shoulder, complaining about not being able to find the person who had requested them. Baekhyun promptly commandeered them, 'until you find some better usage,' to make his floor spot even cozier, and nobody was allowed to share. Chanyeol huffed and went down to drink ale, meanwhile Sehun continued to snooze until dinnertime, and Suho looked all shades of uncomfortable and in the way because Jongin still hadn't told him what was to be done.

"Do we also leave in the morning?" Xiumin whispered to Luhan, while the others - barring Chanyeol who was still downstairs - grumbled about the bard.

"Yes, and so sleep," the templar grumbled back. He was curled up under the blankets laying mostly on his stomach, eyes pinched shut like that would drown out the noise and an arm cradling his own head. Xiumin lay on his back next to him, fortunately unbound although he knew if he shifted Luhan would notice, they were so close. On the other side of Luhan in the corner lay his mabari hound, still tame as ever when it came to the templar, much to Xiumin's continuing bewilderment and amusement. 

"What was wrong with Jongin earlier? Did he say?" he asked. Jongin had been extra silent and brooding since he came back to the tavern.

"I said,  _sleep_... and no, he didn't."

Xiumin shifted among the blankets, partially to find a good spot, partially to annoy Luhan. "I was just asking a question. No need to be petulant now."

"If you don't shut up and let me sleep, I'm leaving you with the bard until your ears bleed and fall off," Luhan said into his pillow.

"Hmmm, kinky."

That made the templar open his eyes, although Luhan only glared at him until Xiumin smirked and he immediately buried his head again. 

After a while Chanyeol lumbered back up the stairs, somewhat inebriated, and he dumped off his armor noisily before diving into a spot near Sehun. The racor brought about more complaining from Baekhyun in particular, and just when everyone had almost nodded back to sleep, there came again footsteps, but of a lighter variety. 

Jongin sat up immediately, feeling for his sword. Baekhyun too rolled over in alarm, and Chanyeol jumped straight to his feet.

"Halt! Whoever's there!" In the darkened shadows of the room, only Xiumin seemed to recognize the intruder, or at least he did a split second before Jongdae laughed. 

"What a welcoming party, hmm. No need to fear, it's just me. Was I so greatly missed?" 

The warriors eyed him skeptically but lowered their weapons, and since Jongdae only made to remove his cloak and climb into the pile they relaxed. At least until the man tried to take over Baekhyun's bear pelt bed and the elf elbowed him quite ungently. Comically cowed, he shrugged in next to Suho instead, who hadn't moved a hair all night.

Alistair and Luhan snored through it all. "What's... going on...?" he halfway murmured into Xiumin's ear.

"Nothing, nothing. Just an assassin come to  _not_  kill us in the night. We hope."

"That's good..." Luhan drawled, while Xiumin relaxed his head back down, arms up behind his head to stare into the rafters. Tomorrow, they'd be on the road to the Circle Tower, and it was such a pity they had to go that way instead. Xiumin would prefer if they went north along the western side of the lake. It would make escaping so much easier. 

He tensed half an hour later, still not asleep, when Luhan shifted on his pallet and snuck a hand across the mage's stomach. Xiumin froze, breath, muscles and all, wondering what was happening. But it was only the templar finding something to hold onto, and it seemed that something happened to be his waist. It wasn't terribly uncomfortable, and not exactly unusual, but Xiumin found it a little bit harder to sleep that night than all the other nights when Luhan had him only by the arm or shoulder.

 

 

"There's been a change of plans."  

Jongin's announcement the following morning came as no light surprise.

"What?!"  

"Why?"

"What do you mean!"

"It means, we're not going to West Hills today." The warrior seemed determined to maintain a certain amount of suspense.

In his corner of the room, Sehun sat up very sternly. He'd had a decent amount of sleep, but the news that he wasn't going to his new home came as a shock. "Where... are we going then?" he dared to ask, softly. Almost too softly, but Baekhyun heard him, and the elf whispered, 'North,' rather suspiciously, just seconds before Jongin continued.

"We're going north. I won't say where exactly, but it's no more than five days' journey on foot. I've had a report that West Hills has been hit with bog fever and I don't want to take Sehun into that yet."

He was immediately inundated with fiery questions from Chanyeol, which turned into a long affair where Jongin tried to answer his questions but didn't say much of anything. He kept repeating only facts about the fever and what they were supposed to do in the meantime, something about an aunt and winter, and try as he might Sehun couldn't stay focused on his story or words. Instead, his brain turned and continued turning, wondering if all this was true, or if there was more to the story than Jongin was telling. If perhaps, his life was in danger from something more than just vapors.

He hadn't told anyone that he knew. He hadn't told Jongin in particular about what he'd overheard. That his half-brothers were apparently being targeted by a rival branch of the family, and that perhaps his life was in danger too. Did Jongin know something he wasn't saying? Was there really bog fever or was it a different sort of attempt? A threat on his life this time, and not just his brothers'?

"Jongin, quit talking about bog vapors. You're frightening Sehun."

It was Baekhyun who interrupted his thoughts, not that the elf sounded particularly sympathetic. In fact, Sehun had no idea what expression was on his own face, but it probably looked more like confusion than actual fright.

"I'm not scared!" he protested hotly on reflex.

Jongin quickly apologized, meanwhile Sehun rolled his eyes, determined not to think about bog fever - which he kind of rejected the idea of anyways. Either way, going north meant more of an adventure, and less time worrying about his new supposed home. In that moment he forgot about his dislike of the great outdoors, but it was overshadowed at the moment. He'd rather face discomfort with something known, than something unknown. And right now, he knew his traveling party, even if he wasn't quite enamored of them.

"I'm going to search the town today and hire a mercenary," said Jongin right on cue.

"What!?" Sehun didn't mean to cry out loud, but Jongin continued on as if he needed to explain it all.

"We'll need the extra manpower. Having another fighter within our party is a definite necessity. Especially since we'll be losing Luhan, Minseok and Jongdae after today."

Sehun had no call to argue with that, although apparently Jongdae did.

"Hey, who says I'm tired of you guys?" the assassin insisted. "What if I happen to be going north as well?"

"A likely story," Chanyeol inserted with a scoff.

"What? I never said I wasn't going north. I just thought you guys would be stopping here and going in another direction. Keep me fed and entertained and I'd be happy to escort you however far you're going." 

There was a smile about Jongdae's lips that had Sehun momentarily worried, but he shook his head of it. The assassin had had plenty of time to kill any one of their members and so far he hadn't. Sehun spared a glance at the rest of the men in the room and it looked like every one of them had the same apparent thought, including Chanyeol, although the two-handed warrior didn't seem happy about it. 

"What about you, Luhan?" Jongin asked after a brief silence fell across the room.

_Oh yes_ , Sehun thought. The templar was still hell-bent on taking his apostate to the Circle Tower, no matter the consequences. He still didn't quite forgive him for the notion, petty as that thought was, and also probably none of his business. 

"We'll spend another night here, and then be gone."

Was that sadness Sehun detected on Luhan's voice? He hazarded a guess it was. Again, not that it mattered. Jongin spoke no more about his master plans except that he'd be visiting the Chantry temple later in the day. Baekhyun he put in charge of purchasing more supplies and Chanyeol was assigned to look out for reliable mercenaries for hire. Finally it was only the dwarf who looked confused and useless.

"So... what am I supposed to do?" Suho asked at the end of the discussion in a soft, uncertain voice.

"Well of course, you'll come with us!" cried Jongdae. "Didn't I mention it? I'll only travel with you slowpokes if I'm properly fed. Besides, I have confidence we'll make a warrior of you yet. You and... oh, what's his name? Sehun?" He winked and Suho looked alarmed, but mildly grateful, and Jongin didn't have the heart to say no. No one took heed of Sehun's disdainful grunt, but whatever.

 

 

 

 

 

They found a suitable mercenary by mid-day. Since Luhan arbitrarily claimed they'd be staying in Redcliffe one more day, he found himself accompanying Chanyeol on his search with Sehun on one side and Xiumin on the other, although the mage was currently going _incognito_. He'd consented to put on a pair or normal commoner-type pants and pose as Luhan's servant when out in public. Luhan hadn't expected him to agree so readily, but Xiumin was more game than even Luhan knew.

"What? Did you think I'd argue? Hey, as long as this doesn't get me arrested by templars meaner than yourself, I'm willing to wear anything."

Luhan thought about that statement long and hard, and in the end he decided it wasn't worth risking his head if he pushed or even teased the mage to further lengths... of dress. Instead, the three of them sat behind Chanyeol as the warrior interviewed a couple prospects, crossing off the first few applicants who seemed a little too eager to get out and kill things. Their words, not Luhan's.

"So..." said Chanyeol, almost bored, as the three of them surveyed the last warrior to enter the tavern. "Your name is... Kris?"

Before them stood an actual qunari.* Gray-skinned and taller than Chanyeol by almost two heads, he had sturdy facial features, a defined and muscular, bare gray chest (of which Luhan was certainly not impressed with... whatsoever), and a wicked pair of horns that grew from just above his ears, jutting out and curving up behind his head.

"Uhhh... Yes," said the warrior-for-hire.

He was intimidating, that was for sure. So intimidating that both Luhan and Xiumin almost cowered under his presence. Even Chanyeol appeared a little under the weather when he observed the creature's massive biceps and muscles. Qunari were massive in general, so much that people have likened them to giants. Though much smaller than that,  qunari were still a fierce race from the north of Thedas and most adhered to a militant set of beliefs, or laws, which they referred to as the Qun.

"I... wasn't aware that the name 'Kris' comes from qunari origins?" said Chanyeol with a look of confusion, anything probably to throw off the otherwise menacing appearance before him.

"It is not of qunari origin, you are correct," said the man/creature/being. "Qunari have no given names, only titles of rank. When I separated from the Qun and became Tal-Vashoth, I gave  _myself_  a name. Kris, I decided, was a cool name. I... liked the sound of it. Very much my style."

Chanyeol didn't look too convinced, but then Tal-Vashoth (qunari who rejected their homeland and inherent culture) were renowned warriors and made for loyal, dependent mercenaries, provided one could pay. And seeing as how Jongin refused to waste money on horses, they definitely could pay. 

"We're headed north," Chanyeol stated with more vigor and confidence than he probably possessed. "How far, I am unsure, but we could definitely use your assistance," he offered finally.

"Then I shall travel with you until you reach the end of your destination."

Kris made quite the picture after that, walking through Redcliffe several steps behind as they meandered through the streets in search of the others. Chanyeol whispered once in Luhan's ear as if to affirm he'd made the right choice, but Luhan agreed they probably had. One qunari could basically fight like two men, and they were notoriously business savvy, especially the ones who became mercenaries. Lots of pent up energy but they preferred using their strengths on legitimate ventures. He'd replace both Luhan and Minseok well in combat, Luhan thought with a twinge of regret.

As they perused the wares in town, Luhan had to continuously force that thought from his mind and focus instead on obtaining the supplies he would need for their own journey to the Circle Tower, and not pretend to haggle over things that caught only Chanyeol's delight. Before they even caught up to Jongin outside the Chantry walls, Chanyeol was lugging several new pieces of metal to upgrade his weapon's grip, a box of flasks of miscellaneous shapes and sizes, and a whole bundle of leather scraps with which he wanted to 'do things with later'. Luhan did not argue, since it was no longer his adventure. He did, however, note that Kris was starting to be immediately useful. He ended up carrying half their crap because Sehun was, in his own words, too delicate to be a pack mule.

They met up again in the early evening, a few hours still to spare before the nightly entertainment. Jongin's first introduction to Kris went by with a simple handshake and an easy  _welcome,_ and then Luhan lead the qunari upstairs to deposit Chanyeol's purchases and to make sure that Alistair did not attack the stranger before he completely earned his pay. They'd left the hound guarding their things, but there was no harm done. Alistair merely sniffed around the qunari carefully and then wagged his tail. 

"I don't like dogs," said Kris with a gruff frown.

"No? Well he likes you, so don't worry about it," Chanyeol replied. "Actually, now that I think about it, I guess we're going to have to say goodbye to our little doggie too! Hey, Xiumin, do you think we can keep him?" He bent down to pet the animal.

"After all the grief you've been giving me about my dog and his preferences for certain people, what makes you think you deserve him?" asked the mage, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, but I mean.. what are you going to do with a mabari hound in the Circle Tow-"

"The dog comes with us," said Luhan, before Chanyeol could dig a bigger hole for himself. He avoided Xiumin's gaze, still somewhat guiltily, although the mage's response was different than he expected.

"You heard the templar. The dog comes with us," said Xiumin easily, a smirk upon his face. "Besides, they're best buddies now. Practically attached at the hip. You wouldn't want Luhan dying from loneliness now if you take away his puppy." He actually pouted, and Chanyeol looked torn between answering honestly or continuing Xiumin's snark. 

" _You're_ attached at the hip," Luhan heard him barely whisper, as Chanyeol turned around.

"I'm sorry, what?" Xiumin put his arms down and inclined his head.

"Huh? Nothing! Just... muttering about my leather scraps..."

Meanwhile, Kris stood on the other side of the room with confusion written all over his face, and Luhan would attempt to explain some things to him, except they would be leaving soon and therefore it didn't matter.

The evening progressed with only a few mishaps which were already common to the party: Baekhyun arriving back at the tavern soon afterwards and bickering with Jongdae who had been pestering and following him all day. Suho trailed them both, essentially the 'Kris' of their particular shopping excursion. He was almost lost underneath all the things Baekhyun had him carrying, including no less than three fur coats. Baekhyun ran a hand through his hair, scratched his ear, and then directed the dwarf upstairs. Only then did he notice the big guy in the room with his eyes following Baekhyun's every moment. 

"I'm sorry... is there something wrong?" the elf asked, not yet realizing that this was their new mercenary. Luhan heard Xiumin giggle beside him.

"Uhh, I'm sorry. There is... nothing wrong. It's just that... your... your..." The qunari lifted a hand and seemed to point at Baekhyun's head. 

Immediately Baekhyun turned a little fiery. "My ears? Is that what's got you staring. What, you haven't seen an elf before? Is that it? Well, let me tell you, Mr. Qunari. I don't know who you are either, but are you aware that you have actual horns on your head? So don't be talking about my ears, okay?"

It was all set to the tone of a teacher lecturing tiny children. Luhan and Xiumin both were trying to contain their laughter. Especially when Kris introduced himself as their new hired warrior and proceeded to explain how it had nothing to do with Baekhyun being an elf. "But, your hair."

"What about it?" Baekhyun was still defensive.

"It's... I've never seen hair as red as yours before."

The elf froze, a hand already occupied with stroking through his locks, and at first Luhan thought he might blush or burst into anger again. Instead, Baekhyun just sniffed and walked off. "Creepy fellow," he heard him mutter. By his expression, it seemed Jongin almost thought the same. He treated the qunari with dash more coldness than before, though he was still professional.

"Anyways!" Jongdae interrupted the atmosphere. "Should we all share some pints before that ridiculous bard gets here to sing?"

There was a general agreement to hurry up and get drunk. Luhan stuck Xiumin in a corner, the better to keep an eye on the mage, while he fetched drinks from the barkeep, intending to have at least one final night of ease. Jongin ruined it for him though only half an hour later.

"By the way, Luhan. I overheard something at the Chantry earlier. They said a troop of templars are due in this evening. Should be here before nightfall, and they're headed north tomorrow. Perhaps you won't have to travel alone after all, huh?"

 

 

 

 

Something about the thought of other templars around Xiumin made Luhan... not overjoyed. He waited as long as he dared to without making a scene and then ushered himself and the mage upstairs, back to the top floor where they were sleeping, and there Luhan sat. His mind racing at breakneck speed, his forehead furrowed. A brief sense of panic, and then over that, guilt and shame.

There was no reason he should be afraid of templars. It wasn't like Luhan had done something wrong. In fact he'd done exactly what he was supposed to do. He had apprehended the apostate and had him in custody. In fact, he suspected his fellow templars had left him out there to fail, and instead Luhan had triumphed, alone. They were on the way back to the Tower, and the slight detour through Redcliffe could be easily explained, safety in numbers and all that. So what was it that had him on edge? That had Luhan wanting to hide Xiumin a while longer? Was it for Xiumin's safety, or Luhan's peace of mind? Or the fact that Luhan had been more than slack regarding his prisoner's captivity. If someone happened to find out that Luhan had actually allowed the apostate - a blood mage by all accounts - to actually handle a staff and fight unrestrained, then Luhan would be in dire trouble, and the mage along with him.

"Luhan..."

That soft voice called him out from his over-anxious mind. "What?" 

"Can I... ask you a question?" said the mage. 

"You can ask." That was as far as Luhan could allow at the moment.

Xiumin seemed satisfied with that. He sat against the wall, hands clasped together in his lap as he casually watched the others on the floor milling about. No one was paying them too much mind. They were arguing more about how to carry all the combined purchases of Chanyeol's and Baekhyun's shopping expeditions, and Luhan wished he could be helping them rather than sitting here holding multiple conversations in his mind, and one with the mage himself.

"I'm curious, if you can tell me something," Xiumin posited again. 

"What can I tell you?" said Luhan, sounding more bored than he really felt.

"How... how did you know where to find me?"

"What?" Luhan turned to him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that... how did you know where to look to find me? What tipped you off?" 

Should Luhan tell him that he had a whole dossier on Xiumin, _and_ a map with his general location? Because the moment he opened his mouth to answer, the point of what Xiumin was saying suddenly hit home.

"We... just knew."

"Yes, but how?" 

Because suddenly, Luhan wondered that too. Because apostate mages were virtually untraceable by the Chantry if they had never been registered by the system. Every born mage who was taken from his family to enter into the Circle had a phylactery of blood kept somewhere hidden within their home tower. The whereabouts were kept secret, and if ever a mage escaped, that's when the phylactery would be brought out and the templars could use their magic to track him or her. A minor form of blood magic the templars never truly talked about, because it was only for necessity... 

Unless an escaping mage managed to find their phylactery and destroy it first, they would be followed and hounded everywhere, their location an open book. 

But mages born in the wild, whole apostate families or children no one knew about... mages like Xiumin... the Chantry and the Circle and the Templar Order should have no way of tracing. By their traditional method, there was no way they would have known where to find an apostate like Xiumin. 

"I've never had my blood taken from me," Xiumin affirmed, right on time for Luhan's mind to spin again.

"We just knew," he reiterated stubbornly.

Xiumin sighed like he was giving up. "You just knew...? Alright, then." 

Together they fell into silence, but Luhan knew they still had to be thinking about the matter.

 

 

 

Around midnight he heard them come into town. Soldiers at night were not quiet people, and templars were no different, especially when their first stop was at the tavern to get drunk. Luhan slipped out of his bedroll, careful not to disturb Xiumin, and very softly pulled on his armor and templar robes. He had to meet them tonight. He wanted to  _know_. Alistair lifted his head, but Luhan bid him hush, and then he tip-toed across the room. He counted one body missing, Jongdae of course, but then the assassin always did as he pleased. 

The sounds from the ground floor grew louder as he descended, the same bard's voice from the night before singing loudly and out of tune. Luhan spotted his fellow templars sooner than they spotted him, part of the same party that had gone off and abandoned him in the Wilds weeks ago. How long ago now it seemed.

They were rowdy, happy to be at the tavern and eating good food, happier still to have the barmaids bringing them ale. One even shouted for the bard to quite squawking and shut up, and Luhan almost felt that old sense of comradery.

He almost wished he hadn't come down, however, when the first one spotted him. "Heey, look, it's Luhan!" cried the burliest fellow, a templar by the name of Shindong. The other three immediately turned their heads. 

"Oh, wow. Would you look at that?" exclaimed Donghae, his friend Eunhyuk smirking mirthfully by his side. "How goes apostate hunting?"

They beckoned him close, meanwhile another high pitched trill from the bard in the corner of the room had them all screeching and covering their ears. Luhan briefly looked around the room and spotted the assassin in the same corner. Jongdae's eyes were narrow, like he wasn't paying attention to anything but of course Luhan suspected otherwise. He decided to be careful of what he said, and then he took the chair that the oldest of the templars, Leeteuk, kicked his way. 

"Speaking of apostates," Eunhyuk grumbled. "What's taking Kyuhyun so long? All he was supposed to do was take that wretched mage out back and chain him to the stables."

"You catch somebody then?" asked Luhan, forcing himself to sound more excited than he was over the visual image of a chained mage. 

"Yeah," Shindong sneered. "Some dirty Orlesian mage who escaped a year ago. Been on the move for a while, but we got him. Back to the Tower he goes!" The four templars and Luhan raised their glasses hastily to the ceiling and  _here here'd_.

"You hear about Siwon?" Dongdae asked him then.

"No?"

"Lead a big round-up several weeks ago. They cleaned out a whole camp of maleficar down in the Hinterlands. Good riddance, if you ask me."

"Good riddance," Eunhyuk agreed, "But I wish I'd been there! Sounded exciting. Better for the world though that most of them ended up dead. It's tranquility for the rest! Can't wait to see it."

Something in Luhan's stomach began to churn upsettingly. "They're going to turn them Tranquil?"

"If they're lucky. The whole lot of them are blood thirsty blood mages," Shindong answered. "And like he said, better for the world if they died. And maybe better dead than Tranquil." He slurped from his ale, liquid sloshing over the sides, and Luhan could do nothing but grip onto his tightly, lest it slip through his fingers and crash to the ground.

He caught Jongdae's eye again, but Luhan quickly looked away. 

What  _had_  he come down here for again? To listen to tales of Siwon's exploits and tranquility and death? He'd wanted to hear how the templars knew where to find Xiumin. Xiumin, his mage. His apostate. His... potential blood mage and current captive. Because the scroll he had was already damning, but from where had the information been compiled? He wanted to know more about the man, and yet...

"So! Luhan. How'd your own adventures go? Did you find that apostate kid or did you just end up lost in the Wilds, eh?" The four templars laughed heartily, while Luhan paled. 

Before he could answer, the bard suddenly quit playing and shouted through the crowd, a lazy drunken dedication of a song he wanted to sing. There were boos, some drunken cheers, and a few flying objects which Bard Jung, as he introduced himself, artfully dodged. Jongdae urged him on, pretending to cheer loudly and uproariously, a far cry from how he normally was, not that Luhan had the time to ponder that.

"T-The Wilds?" he repeated, stumbling over his words as he grasped about for something to say. He almost had to shout to be heard above the din of the tavern customers. 

"Yeah!" Dongdae called back across the table. "What, you didn't find the mage?!"

Avoiding Jongdae's glance and the stares from the other templars, Luhan pretended to enraged by the bard and his horrendous sound, and not show that he was actually terrified about answering. The roars from the tavern guests still loud, it almost masked the pounding of Luhan's heart. " I... didn't find him! He... was gone by the time I got there."

And so the deed was done.

Was it a good lie? Luhan couldn't be sure. He didn't make lying a habit because generally he wasn't good at it, and there was nothing wrong with that on most days. Honesty and the truth were always best, right? Lies were a sin against the Maker, but then it wasn't just Luhan's life on the line here tonight. There was Xiumin to think about... and maybe that should have been the first sign that Luhan was in too deep. He didn't want to see the mage end up dead, or worse... made Tranquil. Thoughts of Xiumin emotionally silenced, wandering throughout the Circle Tower and recognizing nothing but his tasks, his duties, speaking only in a monotone. Would he even remember who Luhan was if that happened? Remember anything about the weeks spent together, fighting and bickering, and how would Luhan ever answer to Alistair if something happened to his owner?

Hence he lied.

 

 

And only Jongdae happened to see the figure creeping just in the shadows of the staircase, still  _incognito_  and listening in, before Xiumin turned sharply and crept back upstairs.


	10. Midnight Favor

Luhan abandoned the tavern as fast as he could appropriately escape without calling attention to himself. Close to an hour after his lie, he was starting to freak out, to second guess his intentions, and to wonder what this meant now. He had a mage upstairs that he'd publicly claimed not to have found, a whole party of travelers who already knew of his plans, and an ever more sly looking assassin sitting in the corner accessing everything he said, or didn't say. 

He didn't want to go upstairs, not with the rate his heart was pounding, not with the feeling of sickness in his gut, like he wanted to throw up. The moment he breathed in the fresh air of the late night breeze, the world seemed a little calmer. But only just. He still had no idea what he was supposed to do now. The templars would expect him to return to the Circle Tower now. After they'd chided him for being a failure, they'd made subtle suggestions like that was the plan. Luhan would return. He'd go back to being a normal, low ranked templar who did what people told him to do, forever an outsider by virtue of his foreign blood. Perhaps he'd be sent out on other requests to round up maleficar, and possibly kill a few some day and be lauded for his heroics. Not even the thought of the Knight-Commander's niece's pretty smiles seemed like consolation this time.

Why ever had he been in such a hurry to return home. It wasn't even a home. Just a place where he dwelled until someone told him to go somewhere else. He'd sworn service to the Templars, a life long commitment, and he couldn't renege on it now. His only matter of course was to release Xiumin, whom he'd claimed not to know, pray to the Maker that the man wasn't an actual blood mage who might go on a killing spree on any given time, and return empty-handed. It was too late to suddenly say he had a mage in custody, and in any case, there was no way he could consciously take Xiumin into such a fate, either death or Tranquility. 

Before he knew where he was Luhan stood in the shadow of a ruined windmill. It lay up the hill from Redcliffe and had a gorgeous view of the lake and town. Lake Calenhad looked peaceful at night, belying no hint that around each of its shores was a world of crime and deception intermingling with the otherwise daily routines of the people who made a living farming or herding. If only he'd had such a life, then perhaps there wouldn't be any hard choices to make. He could settle down and by Andraste's grace, he'd take what came to him. A little hut somewhere and a parcel of kids and... the image faded in his mind, was replaced by a face much more familiar to him... one he saw every day and every night. He shook his head angrily, intending to let everything go for one night and decide what to do in the morning.

Ten steps down the hill though he heard something whooshing through the tree line next to the ruined mill. He paused, turned around to inspect whatever animal or person it might be, but then from below him coming up from the town he spotted two other figures instead. And suddenly, nothing boded well in Luhan's mind. 

"Hail, templar!" called Jongdae with a shout and a grin. 

Luhan did not repeat the assassin's job title out loud, although sometimes he wondered if perhaps he should. "Jongdae," he said evenly, even though his heart was beginning to pound again.

"Well you sure ran out of there in a hurry!"

"What do you want?"

Luhan was eying the other man, confused and doubly nervous because why was the bard who couldn't sing accompanying an assassin on a walk along the edge of town at night?

"Wow, that's surely a rude tone to use on somebody who just wants to help you," said Jongdae, placating him with a smile, palms up innocently his side.

"Help me? What do you mean?"

As Jongdae approached him, Luhan held still, eyes alert as if for a trap but the assassin looked as friendly as ever and the bard had on a wide smile. Not that that meant they were harmless. Come to think of it, Luhan had no idea what the man's master plans were, given his otherwise flimsy excuse that he was just traveling between destinations. To find him now in the presence of a bard though was troubling. Bards were great singers and travelers by job description. They also commonly masqueraded as...

"He's a spy, isn't he?" said Luhan matter-of-factly.

Jongdae did not look surprised by his accusation. The bard, however, seemed to take great offense. 

"A spy?" he reiterated with great indignation. "A common spy? Jongdae, did you hear what he called me? I, sir, am no mere spy."

The assassin just laughed. "Alright, you got us. He's actually a master spy." 

Luhan's eyebrows shot straight up, not from shock but more out of curiosity that they were discussing this so cooly. "Is that so... Okay?"

"Bard Jung Joon Young, at your service," said the master spy with a flourish and a bow. 

"At... my service?" Luhan repeated. 

Jongdae sidled up next to the templar and snuck an arm around his shoulders, and for a moment Luhan thought this was really it. He was going to get a dagger in his side, either from Zevran or Isabella, Jongdae's trusty little blades. Or maybe the bard would sing his ears off. Luhan tensed though, not pulling a sword or shrugging him off because his curiosity was so great it was overriding his anxiety about the apostate mage and his own fate as a templar.

"I heard your little tale this evening," Jongdae whispered cruelly into his ear. His voice was slippery, cunning. The kind that could offer a service and also demand one in return.

"My... what?" Luhan decided to feign innocence just to keep him talking.

Jongdae just chuckled. "Luhan, my friend. I think you have run into a big problem. You... like the mage."

"What? I do not!" he tried to move away, but Jongdae wouldn't let him, holding him fast.

"You like the mage," he repeated. "You don't want to give him over to the Circle Tower. I think... you want to continue running away for a little bit. Really, Luhan this situation isn't hard at all. Let's look at this from a few angles. You claim to not know where he is. You also don't want to part from him yet. You don't want to go north to the Circle. There's another party headed in yet another direction." He paused for a moment while Luhan thought.

"And...?"

"As I told you, friend. It's simple. Why don't both of you just continue on with us for a bit? See the world. Have an adventure. Live a little, Luhan.  _Fall in love,"_  he finished in a whisper. 

Barring his last suggestion, Luhan pondered on it. Could it really be so simple? The western path along Lake Calenhad still ran north after a while. He could still claim to be traveling 'home' if just by a circumferent route. And as soon as the idea took root, Luhan  _wanted_  to make it work. It would give him time to think about the future, and the mage. The problem remained though that the templars had seen him now. He would need an excuse, and no light one either to justify taking off in a different direction. And Luhan already knew his skills at lying were stretched and stretching ever thinner.

"I can't," he said out loud, sighing and otherwise resigned. 

"Why not?" asked the assassin, apparently pouty.

"Because... I just can't. I am honor bound to my duties as a templar. I... if I haven't done my job, as I said I haven't, then I need to return."

Jongdae sighed as well, but his was more sorrowfully disappointed, perhaps in Luhan's capabilities. "Oh, my dear templar. You have utterly no imagination. And that is why I'm so glad to have come across you in your time of need, to be of assistance!" He rubbed Luhan's arm, comfortingly cheerful. "Think of it this way. You say you don't have the mage. Yet. But, what if you were to be tipped off of his whereabouts? Say, a letter that arrives in the morning, that just so happens to be pointing northwest?"

A chill ran down Luhan's spine. "A letter...?"

Jongdae's voice aggravated the sensation, his breaths coming now very close to Luhan's ear and tickling the hairs on his neck. "Yes. And also, to make it quite official, perhaps a letter from the Knight-Lieutenant delivered to the Chantry and thence to you, begging for a templar to stay on this mage's trail.  _Blood magic,_  you know, is no light offense... Somebody needs to find him, Luhan." Jongdae continued on even slower: "That somebody should be  _you, however_  and  _whenever_  you decide to find him." 

What had happened to all his knightly fervor that Luhan was now properly imagining it? It would solve so many problems, except for the inclusion of the letters, but Jongdae already knew where his mind was going.

"Incidentally, there is a report of a mage hiding out near Haven. We've already intercepted it for you. And, my friend here is quite good at forging letters. We can get you a confirmation assignment, no problem."

Bard Jung smiled cheerfully as well. 

"Come on, Luhan," Jongdae pleaded. " _Do it for Xiumin._ "

Instead of being terrified by the proposition, Luhan was more concerned about the master spy's apparent talents. "Does he fake handwriting better than he sings?"

Both of them immediately laughed, like Luhan wasn't a part of some joke they both already knew well. Jongdae smacked him on the arm again. "Friend, you are funny. But Bard Jung is actually an exceptionally talented singer."

"It's true," said the other man with a shrug and a smirk. "I just like to lessen my Maker-given talents before certain eyes. If everyone were to hear my beautiful voice, why, I'd be at the beck and call of every little lordling in this part of the world. Them and their petty little arling rivalries. But _I_ make my own plans. I also play the lute! You should hear me sometime, Just... not in the Redcliffe Inn." And then he winked.

They parted shortly after that, the assassin and the bard/master spy returning first while Luhan mulled over their agreed upon plans. There was still an anxious burning in his chest, one that said this was all a mistake and he should never continue forth. He was already living with one lie. He was about to make it worse by tenfold. Even though it was all for Xiumin,  _and_  for settling his own guilt-ridden heart. 

The moon that night was especially bright and rather pretty. Luhan wanted to blame it for giving him hope and a sense of calm. Out here everything seemed simpler, especially after his discussion with 'friends.' Perhaps it was a good thing he'd gone for a stroll. Perhaps it was just what he needed?

A twig broke just beyond the tree line, and this time Luhan swerved and just _knew_  someone was watching him. It couldn't be though! Had someone been listening in to his entire conversation? 

"Who goes there!?" he yelled, frantic once more, and this time he did draw his sword and take up a defensive stance. His eyes could not see past the brush and foliage, but the forest had gone easily silent. Too silent for a place that had just heard a loud crack of movement. "Anybody?! Come out so I can see you!"

Luhan feigned all the bravado that he did not actually feel. He took several light steps towards the forest. Another twig snapped, then the sound of a foot upon dry leaves, and Luhan immediately darted towards the origin of the sound. As soon as he moved, so did the figure, and all Luhan could see was the outline of a robed form, all shadows among the trees. He, however, moved faster towards it than did the person and after a dozen footfalls he nearly reached it. His sword hilt forward, Luhan dashed towards him and reached out a hand to contain him. He brushed one palm against the person's bared arm before a stump tripped him, and instead of capturing the stalker Luhan ended up face first in the dirt and leaves, sword crashing by his side and wrist bruised by the fall. Regardless he jumped back up to continue the attack, only to realize the figure had vanished, long gone in the brushes. The only thing that remained was Luhan himself and a very cold, chill night air. 

As he walked back to the tavern, Luhan cursed his bad luck, fisting his bad hand into his good. Of course he shrieked and winced from the forgotten pain, and as it it singed from the bruise, Luhan flapped it around mid-air. Only then did he notice something that made his blood run colder than at any occasion all evening: a streak of gray all across his palm and middle fingers where he had touched the creature before he slipped away... and suddenly Luhan guessed what it had been. 

Even to the gates of Redcliffe,  _something_ had followed them. 

And that was an even worse thought than the fact that he'd promised a favor to Jongdae in return for the forged document and intercepted letter. Any favor. He'd just promised  _any favor_  to an assassin and a spy, meanwhile something continued to stalk them in the night. 

If it wasn't for Xiumin and the threat of Tranquility, Luhan would have run back immediately and begged the templars at what time tomorrow they were leaving so that Luhan wouldn't miss it. Somehow, in such a short time span, Luhan's life had grown so chaotic. He wasn't sure when, and he wasn't even sure which part was the worst. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"You're very silent this morning," said Luhan to the mage upon waking up. 

"Am I?"

Luhan wasn't the first one in their loft to awake. Jongin had been up well before anybody, barring Jongdae, but Luhan suspected the assassin may not have even returned during the night. He crept up the stairs though just as Chanyeol awoke, and that elicited plenty of groans and complaints from the two-handed warrior, as if he hoped they might sneak out without Jongdae noticing and thus be free of the man. 

Ever since Luhan and Xiumin began to stir, however, the mage had been moody, keeping more to himself than usual, eating by himself.  Even Sehun thought to ask him if he was alright. 

"Will you miss our friends after today?" Luhan asked him, still wondering how to broach the topic of Luhan's - and thus Xiumin's - altered travel plans. The fact that the assassin had slipped him an envelope first thing hadn't gotten past the templar's notice. He would show them to the templars as soon as possible and so delay his return to the Circle Tower.

"I'll miss them desperately," Xiumin said dryly. He yawned and then continued to frown like he was upset about something else.

Luhan, on the other hand, smiled broadly. "Good to hear. Because... we're going to go with them for now."

"What?" said Xiumin incredulously.

The others had overheard as well. Jongin was the first to react, declaring his surprise and then overall satisfaction that they could continue forth. Chanyeol merely nodded in slight approval, and Sehun looked actually overjoyed at the thought that Xiumin was not headed straight for the Circle Tower. Baekhyun grimaced and asked if this meant they could fire Kris already, but Jongin hotly protested. 

"Why? How come?" Xiumin interrogated him softly. 

"Just... because?" Luhan fought hard to contain himself from smiling even larger, because Xiumin looked so confused and yet so hopeful. Was he doing the right thing? Luhan thought not for the last time that day. Maybe he was only making it easier for the apostate to escape this way. And maybe, he just hoped that Xiumin would stick around just a tiny bit longer, before that day finally happened.

 

 

 

"I wasn't going to mention this to the others," said the shield warrior to Luhan later when they went down to the stables together, "but I'm really grateful you're coming along."

"It's... nothing," Luhan told Jongin, but the man only shook his head and continued to look relieved.

"Only one mercenary... I feared it wouldn't be enough, even if the man turns out to be the most efficient fighter of all the ages. I'm really glad. Really glad," he kept repeating until Luhan began to blush, mostly because it had little to do with the caravan's overall safety that Luhan had made this choice. He felt bad at Jongin's assumption that it was.

"It's... not that far out of our way to be honest. And, I received news that there may be a rogue mage near Haven. Perhaps we'll part with you there to check it out."

Jongin's eyes widened at this turn of events. "Haven? Really? Did the templars you met with last night tell you this?"

"Uhhhh.... yes?" Luhan lied badly. However, Jongin didn't seem to notice. "W-Why do you ask?"

"Because I am headed there as well. It's not exactly close to where Sehun's aunt lives but the Chantry asked of me a favor yesterday when I went by. They want to send out a party to re-inhabit that town, but nobody has scouted the area since it was nearly burned to the ground a few years back. They're paying extra gold to whoever will inspect the site. I figured we could do it and then report back in before returning to West Hills in the spring. I wasn't aware there might be... rogue mages there."

"Oh." Luhan nodded frantically, for lack of anything better to say. In fact, Luhan didn't know what he intended to do in Haven either, although the report was true, or at least as true as anything with Bard Jung's dirty fingertips smeared along it. A part of Luhan's brain justified the Haven mage as the sole reason he was continuing west. And yet, he had no idea what to do if there actually was another mage there. Capture him? Kill him? Would Xiumin actually allow him either, or would that place become Luhan's death at the hands of not one but  _two_  mages? 

"Oh," he repeated dumbly. "Well let's go together then?"

Jongin beamed at him. "Yes! Actually, it would be awful to stumble upon the place without proper support. I'm really glad you're coming along with us."

"No... problem."

"And anyways now, instead of another mercenary, I can actually buy an extra horse or maybe a mule to carry some of our stuff. I'm worried winter will catch us unaware under those mountains. In the meantime, we'll need something to carry around all those extra furs Baekhyun purchased."

 

 

 

 

As they prepared to leave, it remained strange to Luhan that really, this entire excursion was being made for the sake of one little arl's bastard son. Sehun sat on his horse proudly while the others worked, attaching saddle bags to the second horse and the mule Jongin purchased with his advance Haven scouting money. There were nine of them now. Six humans, an elf, a dwarf and a qunari, plus one mabari hound and three four-footed creatures. Once upon a time Jongin was supposed to be traveling swiftly. Now, however, with all the threats they'd come across on the road and considering every unknown, Jongin confided in Luhan that he didn't mind how their numbers had swelled, so long as it made them look like a more intimidating party to any potential foe. 

Luhan didn't remind him that half their recruits were suspicious already, and now Luhan even numbered himself among that. He too was now traveling with false intentions. 

He also didn't tell anyone about the gray streak on his palm and fingers, just that he'd heard something scurrying in the trees last night, and a comment to Jongin that it felt vaguely similar to being watched. It was enough that the warriors immediately suspected the same creature or person who had been tailing them for weeks, and that caused enough fretting amongst them that Luhan just failed to mention the rest of it. That he'd actually touched it. Before they set off mid morning on the road outside of Redcliffe, Luhan peered again through the trees looking for anything discernible around the ruined mill, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Something wrong with your hand?" Xiumin suddenly interrupted him, and Luhan realized he'd been stroking the inside of his own palm, where the gray streak had vanished by the time he woke up.

"What? No."

Xiumin reached for his hand anyways. He turned it over against all of Luhan's protests and examined it, just like he was expecting to find something hidden away, except there was nothing. Luhan knew there was nothing there, even if it had been there last night. A minuscule possibility remained that he had imagined it, that it had only been a shadow, but he knew as they all did that Sehun had born the same gray mark, before it too had faded. 

"See? It's fine," Luhan told the mage, trying to pull it away. 

"It's bruised. What did you do to yourself?"

"Last night, I... fell."

"You... fell?"

"Yes. Outside." Luhan's brain called upon every bit of composure he could muster, because Xiumin's eyes upon his were startlingly direct. Not to mention that he still held his palm captured within his own two hands. The mage probably didn't realize it, but the center of Luhan's hands were a sensitive area and Xiumin's calloused fingertips were doing things to him.

"You just happened to fall down outside, tripped over your own feet, and oh, you also happened to see something stalking you in the trees?"

Luhan gave him a half grin and finally ripped his hand away, not answering.

"Where'd you go this morning?" Xiumin suddenly changed tactics.

"What? I went to the stables with Jongin."

"No, I mean after that?"

If only Luhan could get the sensation of Xiumin's fingertips out of his mind, perhaps he could have turned the topic. Since it was technically his prisoner who was at the heart of this questioning. "I had an errand."

In fact, Luhan had barely waved the papers in front of Leeteuk's sleep-filled eyes, gotten a grunt of assent - or maybe it was a morning yawn - and then returned to the tavern. 

"Why are we going the long way around the lake with Jongin, then?" 

_Enough! Enough with the questions,_  Luhan nearly snapped. He grimaced and put on a stern face, hoping once and for all to end the mage's interrogation. "Templars' orders. I need to check out something that happens to lie along the western road. It'll only delay our route for perhaps a week or two and then... we can say goodbye to our precious new friends and... make new ones at the Circle. Now, doesn't that make you happy?" 

He meant it to be facetious, almost willed Xiumin to make a face of dishumor, anything to get an adverse reaction from him. Instead, the mage continue to stare stonily at him before saying, "You're a bad liar, you know that, Luhan?"  Then the mage got in line beside Suho and Jongdae, and only Luhan stood at the rear of the party with Alistair at his heels, wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into. Again. 

 


	11. New Kind of Attack

"So close to West Hills, and yet so far..." Baekhyun hummed to himself, only Jongin and Xiumin for an audience.

They were only half a day's walk out of Redcliffe, following the winding road around the lake. Unfortunately, some of Chanyeol's packed bags had slipped off the mule, balancing dangerously, and everyone had to halt while Chanyeol, Luhan, Suho, Jongdae, Kris and even Alistair tried to fix it. The hound of course didn't do much other than spook the animal every time it got close. Sehun just observed them from afar.

"Do you think they need any more hands helping?" said the mage, who was observing the number of men crowded around the mule with mild disdain. 

"How many warriors does it take to pack a mule?" said Baekhyun with a little laugh. 

"Too many," Xiumin replied, one eyebrow raised.

They'd stopped on a particularly lovely hilltop on the road which had a great view of the lake to the north east, and the hills and mountains to the west. "And what a shame we couldn't visit Redcliffe Castle. Look, Jongin. Look at it! It's so pretty from here. Couldn't we have stayed just one more day and gone for a visit?"

"Why ever would we?" said the warrior.

"What? But, why not? I always wanted to see inside, and here we had a lordling with us. Could have taken him to meet the Arl of Redcliffe, and then I might have had a peak inside."

He pouted, truly upset at the lost opportunity. Jongin, however, just shook his head.

"The idea is that people don't know or find out who Sehun is. Why would we want to announce such a thing in the biggest arling this part of Ferelden?" 

Baekhyun sighed. "I guess you're right... Still though..."

"Who even wants to see the inside of that place anyway? Two years ago it was overrun with zombies. They say the place is haunted." Jongin shivered.

"Aww, but that's the best part! So many cool things happened in these parts during the Blight. I would've liked to see some of its uhm... history?"

"You mean you'd have liked to scour the dungeons for old zombie parts?" Xiumin suddenly joked, and Baekhyun liked him all the more. 

"Mmm, yes. Bones. Although I would've thought that was more your forte, blood mage?" he teased back. The mage smirked and crossed his arms, ignoring him after that in favor of watching the still ongoing commotion of setting the mule's supply packs. Baekhyun reasoned that for an apostate, Xiumin was surprisingly easy going, and not more than a little scary. He might have hidden magic, but Baekhyun had seen true blood mages in action, and depending on their gifts and inclinations, bears were scarier. A truly horrendous sorcerer though... now that was something to fear. 

"Did you ever meet a darkspawn, Xiumin? I've heard there are mean little grunts and hurlocks and alphas, but a darkspawn emissary? I bet those would be scary."

"Why do you ask?" asked Xiumin.

"Oh, I don't know. Just thinking about magic. Think they use their taint as the source for their magic? I mean, real mages draw power from the Fade, but the darkspawn are already kind of dead, aren't they? Man, I wish I'd been here during the Blight to see some action!"

Xiumin looked subdued, and started to say, "I wouldn't know-" but Jongin suddenly cut them both off.

"Baekhyun, you talk like the Blight was some big adventure to witness. So you weren't here for it? Well, I was. It was awful, and only two years ago. I wish... well, would you mind not talking about it?"

Neither Baekhyun nor Xiumin were quite prepared for his outburst. It hadn't even occurred to him that Jongin would not like talking about it, but then he was a Ferelden from West Hills and had obviously lived through much. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"That's fine," Jongin interrupted him, less vocal though now than just a second previous, like he already felt bad for lashing out at the elf.

Baekhyun decided not to push him. Instead, while the warriors finally hurrahed at their packing success, he took advantage of the moment and whispered stealthily to Xiumin, "Were you here during the Blight?"

Without looking at him, Xiumin quickly said, "No. I was in Orlais."

"What, you too?" Baekhyun exclaimed, almost forgetting that he wasn't supposed to be talking about this in front of Jongin, or perhaps in front of Luhan too. Xiumin narrowed his eyes as if in warning, and Baekhyun quickly hushed and nodded his understanding. "I take it Luhan doesn't know?"

"No. Why should he?"

"Oh. Oh, no reason. Just curious." Baekhyun averted his eyes, scratched his head and wondered... "Just... Orlais, huh? Wow, you sure get around for an apostate. Have to hand it to you there."

"And you sure get around for an elf. Where were you born anyways. The Exalted Plains?" 

Immediately, Baekhyun's blood ran cold. "What?! Why do you say that?" 

"Oh, no reason. I'm just thinking you talk like a city elf most of the time. But every now and then... your accent slips." Then he winked and wandered off to talk to Luhan, and fortunately everybody was too occupied in that moment to notice how pale Baekhyun's face must have turned, and how he stood frozen to the ground a few seconds longer than necessary. Then he shook himself of his brief sense of panic and endeavored to never tell anyone that Xiumin was  _not_  born and raised in any part of Thedas not part of the Korcari Wilds. If Xiumin thought they had an agreement for mutual silence, then Baekhyun for once would obey. In any case, he prided himself that no one would have any cause to be suspicious of his origins. Lots of elves might have wandered off from their homelands for any number of reasons and Baekhyun couldn't be thought of too differently from those kinds,  _could he?_

He looked around cautiously anyways, but he caught only the qunari staring at him inappropriately. Baekhyun glared at him, making the man wince and turn away. There, that was better. No attention on Baekhyun now. 

The more he thought about it though, the more he was absolutely certain Xiumin had be Ferelden-born, and probably in the south. Why then did  _his_  accent sound most of the time like a world-class mixture of over a dozen different nationalities, unless he was just as well-traveled as Baekhyun himself. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, they did not get as far as Jongin would have liked before the sun fell in the sky and a low fog obscured even their moonlit vision. It was eerily dark now with a lake in the near distance, mountains on the other side, even though they couldn't see them anymore. Visibility dropped so bad that Jongin called for a halt at their nearest convenience. They made camp beside a small creek, Suho set up a cooking place, preparing the freshest ingredients they'd carried out of Redcliffe, and despite the weather the party seemed in good spirits.

Now that they had an open space to practice, Jongdae pulled Sehun up to continue their dueling training. The boy still wasn't very good but he could at least  _kind of_ spar with the assassin. He was also better at keeping his balance every time he misjudged an attack or defense, and Jongdae proclaimed he was already loads better, as opposed to when he'd just fall over on his butt. Once everyone had eaten, Jongdae dragged Suho up too and used a complicated sort of push-pull effect on Chanyeol by suggesting Kris the qunari would be a better two-handed instructor for Suho. It successfully bruised the human warrior's ego so much that Chanyeol insisted he was a way better trainer, and therefore Kris was off the hook. 

Luhan hadn't spoken much to the mercenary since he was hired. All day Luhan had been silently fretting about life in general, and the qunari was a fairly silent companion. He asked no questions except what he needed to and so far all that entailed was to ask if he should carry a few rucksacks of supplies, lead the pack horse by the reins, and keep a lookout for anything suspicious. He was taller than the rest, and so this much made sense.

"Were there many attacks between Lothering and Redcliffe?" Kris asked Luhan while the others sat around or mock-dueled with one another. The two of them plus Xiumin, Alistair, and Baekhyun - who was writing again in his journal - all sat around the fire.

"Several, actually. A lot of bandits on the road in those parts, and some large animals. Have you traveled that road before?" Luhan replied.

"I haven't," said the qunari sparingly as he stared into the dirt. Luhan thought one of the oddest things about the man was how he never looked people in the eye when he spoke. It didn't seem like he was necessarily avoiding eye contact; more so because he probably didn't know how to interact with people, and so he maintained a stiff posture. 

"What brought you to Redcliffe then?" Luhan asked.

"I travel where I need. I came down last week with a merchant caravan from Orzammar. And now, it seems like I return." 

"So this road is already familiar to you? Anything you can tell us?" 

"It is..." the qunari pursed his lips, brows furrowed, "predictably full of bandits, as you must already know. And also..."

"Also?" Luhan prodded. Xiumin too was listening in.

"Also, how shall I say this? About four days' journey north from where we are now, we heard a shrieking. A noise. Just once... But it was loud, and high above us in the mountains or air. Like from a dragon in flight..."

They never got to finish that discussion. Not when those sparring came to an end and they all fell down around the fireplace with sore, weakened arms. Luhan did not want to frighten anyone more than necessary, especially Sehun. He would tell Jongin later what the qunari warned of, but in the meantime he and Xiumin exchanged meaningful looks, and even Baekhyun had paused in his writing when Kris mentioned the word dragon. 

"Well, that is exciting," said Luhan without an ounce of real enthusiasm later that night after they'd laid down their pallets. 

"I take it, you're no dragon hunter," said Xiumin. 

"Definitely not!" He choked and laughed at the same time. Luhan was sure Xiumin would try to tease him, but their party had already turned silent as each person went to sleep, and so Luhan only caught one lilting smile from the mage before Xiumin rolled over and laid his head down. There were still about two hands' width of space between them, something Luhan was eager to fill in. However, he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed by his dependence on the mage, and a little too addicted to his proximity. He decided it would be good discipline if he left some space between them. After all, Xiumin would probably be gone one morning and Luhan should get used to that thought before it came. 

Sleeping wasn't nearly so comfortable this way though. He tossed and rolled around, no doubt drawing Chanyeol's attention who was sitting up for first watch. The warrior had out his notebook with the requisitions and supplies lists, and he every few seconds he marked something down with a coal pointer as a way to stay awake. When the fire got low he added another log to the pile, and the crackling this made caused Luhan to shift uncomfortably again. He was almost determined to just roll closer to the mage when he heard something suspicious. Chanyeol too stopped what he was doing and looked up alarmed. 

At first Luhan wondered if it was the gray creature, but when he trained his ears he made out the sounds of not one pair of footsteps creeping softly beyond the bend in the road, but several... and all so lightly that they had to be traveling in stealth. 

"Xiumin, wake up, now." Luhan almost slapped the mage in the head. 

Chanyeol was already one step ahead, drawing his sword as he kicked Baekhyun and Jongin beside him. The qunari woke instantly at the sound of Luhan's whisper. 

"What's wrong?" came Sehun's frightened voice. 

"Someone is coming," Chanyeol hissed. "Everyone up now!"

The warriors sprang instantly to action, Jongdae right beside them, and Luhan thought how touching it was that both Xiumin and Suho made a beeline towards Sehun to drag the boy back behind the defenders. 

Right away Luhan knew this couldn't be good. It was the middle of the night, not the typical hour for bandit attacks, and visibility due to the fog made every shadow cast longer on the ground. Their only advantage was the firelight from their own camp. It lit up the immediate surroundings, but it also lit up them as well. Luhan already cursed the results that might have when he was proven right just a second later: an arrow flew over his head but struck safely into the curved round of Jongin's shield. 

"Attack!" cried the warrior as he and Luhan lunged forward, shields up and swords bared. Perhaps ten attackers rushed out of the fog. Luhan did not have time to count them, but as he surged into the battle he knew only that this seemed like a highly organized, premeditated assault. Beyond thought, Luhan only knew that he had to fight, and this time when a blast of magical light crashed over their heads from somewhere behind, Luhan was not frightened he might end up dead from magic, he was relieved that he had a mage fighting on their side.

 

 

 

 

Sehun kept his head down. One of these days he figured he hoped he would be able to rise up and fight alongside the warriors, but Sehun wasn't stupid. With an upbringing that gave him no training but in how to read books and texts, he knew how these kinds of fights went. The brave rallied to action, the weak died. He would not add himself to the list of overly courageous but lacking sword fighters who ended up dead for their troubles. He bit his lower lip and scampered behind a lakeside rock, pretending he wasn't grateful that Suho was with him. Another smart one, Sehun dared to think. Neither of them were good yet with their weapons and they wouldn't pretend that they were, not in the middle of a battle. 

"Weapons out, but don't try to attack unless someone gets to you first!" Xiumin whispered to them in a crouch, before he too snuck over to the pack hourse and pulled out the staff Luhan never let him carry, unless it was absolutely essential. "I won't go far. Keep your eyes open, you two. Even from behind!"

"Got it, got it." Sehun scowled, but even as he spoke Suho was checking their rear. A few trees between them and the lake but it was open ground over than that. He could just make out the lakeshore through the mist. Most of the fighting was on the other side of the road, and so they were pretty well hidden unless...

"Are they bandits? Or, are they here for me?" Sehun dared to ask, even if he didn't think Suho knew the answer. 

"I don't know, but not a lot of things make sense to me. Who all you people are and why you're on the road, I do not ask. I just don't want to die."

Sehun snorted, but not because he was offended.

"Yeah, well nothing makes sense to me that much either, but somebody kind of wants me dead for a stupid reason. Don't you want to go home? That's all I want to do." 

Sehun flinched when an extra loud blast of magic struck somewhere that sounded deadly. He heard Chanyeol roaring cheerfully, and Baekhyun actually laughing before he too shrieked and started cursing. Suho was peaking out just beside the boulder but he didn't make a peep and so Sehun tried not to worry. Instead, Sehun concentrated on not panicking. He and Suho seemed to make good non-panicking buddies, however surface level that was.

"I don't have a home to go to anymore," said the dwarf as he flinched again at another clash of swords. "So, this is kind of it for me."

Sehun wanted to press him, but it was not obviously the time for chatter. Jongin was yelling even more erratically, and he could have sworn he heard Luhan directing Xiumin to cover their flanks, Alistair growling wildly, Jongdae cackling evily, and Chanyeol urging everyone on but crying, "Come on! If we kill them, we get their stuff!" An attacker cried out after that, a blood piercing shriek that made Sehun's teeth chatter, followed by, "Nice! Well done, Kris!" 

Suho was counting bodies. "That's at least half of them down! Three more have fled, or tried to... Stone's Dust, but Baekhyun is bleeding now from the shoulder!" He ducked as another arrow flew in their direction. Sehun worked on breathing slowly, and didn't dare poke his head out. 

"Someone take out that archer!" Luhan roared. The command was followed by something that sounded like ice striking and then shattering, and Luhan whooped. 

"Last arrow he'll ever send," said the mage smugly. 

Sehun tried also not to smile. He liked that Xiumin was a part of the team, whatever that meant. Now that he wasn't just being dragged all over the country side in chains. It gave Sehun hope that the mage might be able to actually do something with his life, since Luhan was no longer adamant about keeping him a prisoner. It wasn't a perfect parallel, but it gave Sehun a little bit of hope for himself. One of these days, maybe if they kept on traveling, he wouldn't have to go home. Wouldn't have to become an arl. Fanciful notions of following in Jongdae's footsteps and becoming the most feared assassin in Thedas. It made him laugh though, the silly thought of that. 

Then Suho put an end to his boundless imagination. "Hush!" he whispered harshly. Sehun almost choked on his tongue. 

"What is it?"

"I... I don't know. I just thought I heard something." The dwarf was looking towards the lakeside with narrowed eyes into the fog. "Perhaps it was nothing..."

But Sehun had already learned there was no such thing as  _nothing_ , not in these days and not on this road.

"I don't like  _nothing_. Let's move."

The dwarf nodded in agreement and they crawled around the boulder to survey the slowly dwindling battle scene. Baekhyun was sitting up on the grass, Xiumin kneeling by his side applying pressure to his shoulder. Kris stood a little before them with his sword arm out, cautiously looking around. Sehun was in time to see Jongdae throwing a blade into the shin of a retreating attacker; the man went down with a yelp, and Luhan and Jongin panted heavily between a pile of strewn out bodies. Neither Chanyeol nor Alistair were in the clearing, but he heard the sounds of the tall warrior's shouts just out of eyeshot, a cataclysm of what was only two swords striking against each other. And then there was one. 

"Jongdae! Drag that one over here!" Jongin suddenly yelled at the assassin, who was hovering over his downed attacked. 

"What? Oh I was just going to put him out of his misery first?" he said, while simultaneously whipping the dagger out from his flesh. The man cried and whimpered, but shut up when Jongdae brandished the bloodied weapon in front of his nose. Then he began lugging it closer to the fireside. Jongin issued other instructions for Kris to doublecheck that all others were either dead or immobile. Luhan, he told to clean up his face - the templar had a shallow gash on his cheek - and then Jongin knelt beside Baekhyun and Xiumin just as Sehun and Suho joined them. 

"Is it bad? How deep?"

Xiumin did not remove his palm from the elf's shoulder. "Not bad. I think I can heal this."

"What do you mean it's not bad? It hurts!" Baekhyun immediately contradicted him. The mage only laughed, and still without moving he looked about and tossed his head towards Suho. 

"Do you know what elfroot looks like?" The dwarf nodded. "Good. Take a torch and go down by the lake. I think I saw some of it growing there in small patches. Alistair will go with you." 

Sure enough, the mabari hound was already trotting back towards the fire alongside Chanyeol and when he heard his master's words he veered right off towards the lake. Suho scrambled to follow. All eyes were on Baekhyun's grimacing face and scowls until Jongdae finally dumped the wounded man next to Jongin and huffed in annoyance. 

"Okay. He's alive and here. Happy now?"

Chanyeol looked confused. "Uhm, why exactly aren't we killing him? I... didn't spare the last guy. Was I supposed to?"

Jongin sighed, tore himself away from Baekhyun and shook his head. "No. Not all of them. I just wanted to see if these guys would talk?"

"They're not mere bandits, are they?" asked Luhan. 

"Don't seem like it," Jongin agreed. He kicked over the body until the man - almost a boy, although Sehun guessed him to be a little older than himself - lay on his back with his arms shaking terrified in front of his face, protecting himself. He had a sword wound on the side of his torso, a bashed in nose, and blood dripped from his leg where Jongdae had gouged him. Jongin knelt over him, peering down almost fondly. "Hey there. Want to talk?"

The man only trembled and Sehun almost felt bad for him. Except for the fact that his band had tried to murder them all while they slept.

"How about you talk, or you can join your brothers here, dead." 

"This is going to be useless," Chanyeol interjected. 

"Agreed," said Jongdae.

"I wasn't talking to either of you," Jongin whipped back just as fast. Holding a hand to the boy's chest, he glared up at the other warriors before peering back down again. His eyes leered and his voice was soft, dangerously coaxing. "Come on. You heard them, and you're as good as dead if you don't give up something worthwhile. Let's start with your name, hm?"

He actually looked kind of scary like this, Jongin, interrogating the man. Even Luhan seemed to look at him with eyes slightly more respectful. 

Finally, he started to mumble, and it came out something like "M-m-m-max." 

"Max?" Jongin verified. "Well, Max. Who's your clan? Tell me where you're from. Tell me why you're here?"

"No-no reason. Just... just raiding."

"Just raiding, are you sure?" 

The man looked about to panic for sure at Jongin's narrowed eyes, when Kris suddenly shouted. "I found something!" The qunari marched over to the fire from the bodies he had been inspecting, a dagger in his hand that held an extraordinarily elaborate designed hilt. There was even a marking on it, a symbol of which Jongin inspected in the firelight. Max's eyes widened in horror. Sehun had no idea what it was, but Jongin evidently recognized the coat of arms engraved upon it, and it wasn't good news.

Instantly he stood up and raged silently at the attacker, and Max cowed a little more under his tall presence. However, Jongin did nothing. He tossed the dagger to the side - Jongdae's eyes actually lit up at the beautifully crafted weapon - and then he looked at Chanyeol. 

"This is the Shim clan. Changmin and Yunho," he whispered, even though his words carried over all the listening party. 

Sehun's mouth dropped open. "My... my cousins sent them?"

"Yes." Jongin dropped his angered face, and instead it was with pity that he said, "I'm sorry. I should probably have told you already but-"

"I know. I already knew," Sehun confessed at once. He glanced once at Max who was looking at him strangely, and then back at Jongin. "They're trying to kill me, aren't they? Me and all of my half-brothers?"

Jongdae whistled. "Woo, these petty little rivalvies. How exciting."

But then suddenly, Suho started yelling from by the lake. Xiumin grabbed his staff just as Alistair barked, and even Sehun could barely resist running to the dwarf. However, Chanyeol caught him across the chest before he could investigate and he ran down after Xiumin. Sehun heard the dwarf mumbling something, and Alistair barked again. 

"I told Sehun, I thought I heard something!" He appeared through the fog again, torchlight lighting the way, and behind him came Xiumin, back to the fire as he scanned the area with his staff. Chanyeol was dragging a body, breathing loudly as he brought it down. The figure was dressed like all of the other attackers, but he was dead, and wounded by nothing like a sword or arrow. Sehun felt a lump collect in his throat as he stared down at the man's throat. Xiumin knelt closely to inspect it with Suho's torch, and Jongin paled, almost forgetting the captive entirely. Only Kris watched after Max. Everyone else, including the wounded Baekhyun was staring in shock at the dead body. Luhan actually cried out in shock.

The dead man had been strangled and left along the shore, where evidently he had been sneaking up on the party unawares. Or trying to. Around his neck were the distinct hand prints of his attacker who had bruised the skin a sickly, dark gray. 


	12. Few Asleep in the Night

It was still the middle of night, with almost everybody awake. Sehun guessed they probably wouldn't get much traveling done tomorrow because of their overall lack of sleep concluding after a skirmish, prisoner interrogation, and the mysterious dead body. Kai had dragged off Max with the help of Chanyeol, Baekhyun was still cringing over his wounds; Luhan, Xiumin and Kris stood on patrol. Only Jongdae had decided he was bored and thus he went back to sleep. Sehun tried as well, but he could not get the picture out of his head, that robed figure he had seen once before, the figure he imagined every night when he tried to dream, and sometimes during waking hours as well. How everything it touched turned to gray, how it killed. 

Every couple of days after it had dragged him away from the bear, Xiumin checked Sehun's skin, rubbing the flesh, inspecting where the mark had been. It never came back of course after it faded, and the mage had determined there to be no other side effects. Sehun was perfectly fine and well, and exactly how Sehun wanted to be: alive and not dying.

An hour after the skirmish though, the marks on the dead body had not faded. They remained there, evil hand prints forever telling the tale of how this man had died, strangled from behind. Xiumin inspected it closely, Luhan hovering right behind him, curiously rubbing one palm against the other. It gave Sehun the creeps, standing around watching them, not doing anything. He whistled for Alistair and went for a walk, not far, just around the boulder where he and Suho had hidden earlier. The dwarf followed him now too. He heard Baekhyun hollering after him, warning the short man to keep Sehun safe. As if they could actually ever be safe from such a thing. If _it_  so wanted to, it might have snagged them at any time. 

“I'm fine. You don't have to follow me,” Sehun told Suho with a grumble.

“You shouldn't wander. It's not safe.”

“I have the dog.”

But the dwarf just frowned. “Alistair is not enough.”

As if he knew they were discussing him, the hound whined, nudging his head into Sehun's palm and giving Suho what might have been a possibly scathing look. 

“Do you really think that thing is after me?” Sehun asked quietly.

“I... I don't know.”

“It killed that man who was trying to sneak up on us. It saved me from a bear. It... It killed some wolves once, when I was out in the forest at night. That was weeks ago. It's still here, and so are we.”

“We don't know anything about it. Not really. I still don't think it's safe,” the dwarf insisted. He bundled his short little arms around his chest, still frowning. Alistair began to wag his tail and the end of it kept smacking Suho on the face until he swatted the dog away and stepped out of the line of attack.

“I just want to sit and breathe for a little bit. Alistair's with me. Please, Suho? Can I just have a moment? I won't take one step farther from this spot, I promise.”

The dwarf only sighed, but Sehun was right about several things. One, the creature hadn't yet shown a propensity for harm, or at least for harming them. And two, Alistair was a fierce attack dog, more than capable of protecting a man, or sounding the alarm. 

“Fine. But  _breathe_  quickly, and then come back to the fire. I'll leave you alone for a bit, but don't think the others won't come for your soon enough. Those men weren't out here to loot our stuff; they came for you.”

Sehun didn't need for Suho to voice the actual warning, he knew. He was aware. And no less afraid because of it. Seeing actual men who owed fealty to Sehun's own family, however distantly removed, wasn't so much of a wakeup call as it was a reality check. He knew something was going on, knew his life could possibly be in danger. A few weeks ago though he thought he had more to fear from the creature stalking them. Now, about that he felt strangely calm. It was why he wanted to sit here, stand here, sit again and stare through the fog. On a more beautiful night, maybe he could have glimpsed Redcliffe Castle off in the distance. Instead there was just mist, and Alistair beside him, breathing heavily into the night. 

And the sound of quiet footsteps approaching him.

“Who's there?” Sehun said, just as quietly. He kept a hand on the hound, stroking his neck as he waited to see how Alistair would react. The dog didn't move. Nor did anyone reply. 

Sehun held his breath, ears straining to locate the approaching figure. It came from his left; Alistair crouched low, cautious and alert, but he didn't charge or even growl, and that was enough to keep Sehun from bolting. Through the fog he saw the shadow approach. Not a shadow, but a solid figure, covered head to toe in dark robes and his face concealed by its folds. Sehun tensed, and the figure stopped, the gesture indicating it did not want to alarm him. 

“Who are you...?” he tried this time. 

Behind him in the distance he could hear the others, arguing or chatting, paying him absolutely no mind. Alistair moved before him first. The hound slumped forward on its feet and crept slowly towards the figure, and just as they stood within touching distance, he - Sehun didn't know why he thought of it as a he - held out his hand. It was engulfed by his robes, only a couple of fingers protruding. Not gray either, it was flesh, real skin, mottled and dirty but  _human_. Alistair didn't have to lift his nose; he had to nudge his head lower, sniffing the offering hand and then very subtly, nudging against it. 

The hound retreated, but not with a whimper. Instead, he settled again behind Sehun's heels, and this time it was all on Sehun to approach... him. He stood up, taking a step forward, not offering a hand but observing the figure. He was shorter, possibly slim although the robes obscured much. Whatever fearful thing he might be, Sehun could not tell. This was the creature - the person - who had saved him, who had carried him. Now standing before him, finally. Sehun watched as his cloaked hands lifted slowly, raising to his own face and fingers dragged softly against the hood he wore pulling it back only a fraction of an inch. For the first time Sehun saw his face. Dark eyes and a pursed mouth, sallow complexion. He had small nose that might have been broken once and it sat upon a small round face. Thick dark eyebrows, a hint of dark hair that curled across his forehead. He was definitely human, although his skin was parched, dry, almost poxed and sick looking.  But it wasn't the features that were striking as much as the man's expression. He might have been young, but there was knowledge in those eyes, a very dark sort of insight. He appeared to shimmer between youthful and someone at death's door, and that frightened Sehun more than anything.

“Who... are you?” He asked again. “What's your name?”

A slight commotion from the campsite drew their attention, someone whining and a loud shout - nothing alarming on its own. The stranger's eyes shifted that direction slightly, before he trained his eyes once more upon Sehun's. He made no other movement though, either away or as if to approach him closer. 

“You want my name?” He said instead, in a low, strangely melodic voice, like it was both a trivial thing and also not a question he found common to hear. The sound of it though enraptured Sehun.

“Yes, and who are you?”

The man smiled, a sly expression. His eyes shifted one more in the direction of the campsite, testing for a moment whether anyone might be coming, and then he looked back again. His gaze was direct, appraising. It made Sehun shiver. “It's Kyungsoo.”

He might have said more, but someone called out Sehun's name just then, and in the second wherein Sehun gasped and looked behind him, by the time he turned around, the figure, Kyungsoo, was gone.

 

 

 

 

 

Xiumin watched as Sehun lumbered back the campfire, the dog trailing behind him. “See?” he nudged Luhan beside him, “He's fine.”

For a templar who seemed to enjoy following his own undefined agenda, Luhan had been pestering him almost nonstop since Suho came back from the lakeside alone. As if Luhan accepting the partial role of Sehun's protector on this journey was the only thing the templar had that grounded him, giving him an excuse to even travel in this direction with the party. They were cute, all the little lies Luhan tried to tell him, to explain in an overly patient tongue that this was just as good a way to journey as on the eastern edge of the lake would have been. 

Sehun shook himself like he'd seen a ghost and crawled into his bedroll. Then he seemed to think otherwise about it, got out, dragged it closer to the mage's side and climbed in again, all without a word. Xiumin kept himself from chuckling, but he smiled all the same and patted the boy's head. Sehun swatted his hand away just as Alistair joined them and plopped down right between. On his other side, Luhan sat on the ground facing away from Xiumin while he cleaned his blade one last time. It had already been done once, all of the attackers' entrails wiped away while Xiumin attended to Baekhyun with the herbs Suho brought up. The elf archer now wore a compress of mashed elfroot and a few other medicinal powders that he'd carried all on his own. Xiumin was quite impressed with his stash. However, Luhan, having no medical finesse only assisted in the cleanup. They dragged the bodies to the outer rim of their camp downwind, intending to burn them in the morning before they left, the corpse carrying the hand prints as well. 

“Why does my dog have a smudge on his nose?” Xiumin commented suddenly, examining Alistair's nuzzling face. 

“What?” Luhan turned around. 

“He has a smudge on his nose.”

Sehun's eyelids may have flickered, but he did not lift his head. 

“Sehun?” 

“Hmm?” the boy barely murmured into his blanket. 

“What do you know of this?”

Xiumin tried rolling the boy over, but he put up a sleepy resistance and only grunted. 

“Sehun?”

“I don't know what you're talking about? Just dirt probably.”

Alistair, however, didn't seem to think it was just dirt. He rubbed his nose on Sehun's pallet, swiped a paw across his face, but the dot remained. In the firelight it wasn't completely obvious and not one of the others still awake paid them any attention.  Luhan put down his sword and leaned across Xiumin to inspect the animal as well, shoulders touching and practically breathing across the mage's neck. Xiumin elbowed him away, but the templar stayed. 

“You think he met with the creature?” Luhan whispered into his ear. 

“Perhaps,” whispered Xiumin back with another eye to the now sleep-feigning boy. 

“Perhaps it was only curious,” said Luhan.

“What's curious, Alistair or  _it_?”

“Maybe both.”

The dog had given up; he lay his head down and snuffed, and as Xiumin ran a hand affectionately through his fur, he saw the mark was already beginning to fade. Just like the hand prints on Sehun, just like the smudge on the inside of Luhan's palm. Xiumin sighed and sat up, turning away from Sehun on the pretense of fixing their pallet. He nudged Luhan to scoot over to give him room and the templar obliged only slightly. On the other side of the fire Jongin was returning with their new prisoner, now properly tied up. Chanyeol had come back earlier, checked up on Baekhyun, and conversed with Kris. The qunari had been professionally silent all night, only speaking when necessary. Suho lay down to sleep only when he saw Sehun return. 

“Won't you give me some space?” Xiumin poked at Luhan's side. He was still taking up most of their shared pallet, and as much as Xiumin really didn't mind, he kind of wanted the templar to move over, and so put a little distance between themselves and Sehun. 

“I did already, quit nagging or get your own.”

“There isn't another one, unless you want me to sleep out in the dirt.”

“Why not, since you seem to get comfy anywhere,” Luhan teased in a sleepy voice. 

“Maybe I'll do that then. Or maybe I'll just head on down the road by myself and sleep in a tree.” 

“No,” Luhan yawned. “You're not allowed to go anywhere. You're my prisoner remember?”

Xiumin snorted. “Some guard you are too. Are you sure this isn't a vacation excursion? Are you sure  _you're_  not the one who doesn't want to return to the Circle?” Even as he teased him, Xiumin bundled himself under their blanket, strangely attracted to Luhan's warm body. He knew what he'd overheard the night before in the tavern. He guessed exactly why Luhan wasn't taking him along with the other templars. 

“So many questions and it's been such a long night,” the templar complained now. He lay on his side facing away, but as Xiumin snuck in close, he pulled on Luhan's shoulder to pull him to his back. Luhan, however, actually hissed, like he'd been hurt and Xiumin immediately let go. 

“What's the matter?” he asked concerned.

“Nothing. Just sore. Did you forget we just fought a battle?” 

“Hardly a battle,” Xiumin tutted. “Quit being so dramatic. What hurts though? Why didn't you tell me?”

“Why do you care? Your only job is to not kill me before I lock you up.” Luhan actually laughed. In the dark Xiumin gave him a rare smile, unseen by anyone including Luhan.

“You're a strange templar, you know that?” he said quietly.

“I know.” Luhan's voice dropped to a whisper. “Isn't that the only reason you haven't run away yet?”

Xiumin lay his head down and sighed. “You think I will?”

“I think you might.” 

Xiumin blinked, something stirring because of the wistful tone in Luhan's voice. His eyes were closed, almost asleep laying on his back, and he no longer squirmed when Xiumin brushed his hand across his sore shoulder. The mage left it there though, lightly, delicately as he settled in to sleep. 

“Maybe I will,” he said softly. “Or maybe not. Maybe I just like traveling. What are you investigating up this way anyway, Luhan?” He leaned in closer to whisper. “More blood mages? All alone and without any templar backup?”

Luhan groaned, eyes still shut. “Can't we just sleep... please?”

“Will you tell me tomorrow?” Xiumin pestered him some more.

“Maybe. I don't know.”

“What's up this way, huh? Huh, Luhan?” He smiled to himself, pleased to see the templar frowning in sleepy frustration. “Hey, don't go to sleep. I wanted to talk to you still.”

“Tomorrow.”

“But, that thing... it's...”

“Tomorrow, please.”

 _It's something unnatural_ , Xiumin wanted to finish. He also wanted to discuss its apparent fixation on the party, probably Sehun, and possibly also the reverse since Sehun now seemed to be holding secrets from them as well. None of this would get through to Luhan tonight though, not after the day they'd had.

“Okay, then. Tomorrow. Can I keep the staff though, please?” Luhan hadn't specifically requested that Xiumin return his magical weapon this time.

“Do whatever you want.”

“Alright, I will. Tell me in the morning though if your shoulder still hurts.”

A moan, a groan, a yawn and that was all Luhan would commit to. 

 

 

 

 

Despite being among the most tired of members, Jongin elected to take the final watch. There was still no moonlight, the fog was so thick around their camp. Jongin sat up by a rock and reclined against it, knees up, eyes alert, head shifting slightly from fatigue but he knew he would make it through another few hours, after which time he'd wake up either Kris or Luhan. He'd prefer the templar of course. After Chanyeol and Baekhyun, Luhan was the most trustworthy in their party, the most known entity he could trust to watch all their backs. But over the course of this long night, Chanyeol had already sat up, properly alerting them to the oncoming attackers, and now Baekhyun nursed a head wound. Luhan would be the next safest bet to awake.

It was becoming clear to Jongin that not everyone could really be trusted. He thought they'd been discreet enough in Redcliffe, not drawing too much attention to Sehun's presence. If a party of warriors passed through, that on its own wasn't a big deal. Lots of fighting men went places all the time. The problem was how the movement of the Arl of West Hills' bastard son was supposed to have been a secret, known only to the Arl himself, Jongin, and then Sehun's mother and grandfather. Jongin hadn't even told his friend Jaejoong where he was off to before leaving for Denerim to collect Sehun. The less people that knew, the better. In case the cousins' got wind of the fact and decided to off Sehun before he even arrived.

And yet somehow, they already had. Somehow, they knew. And how convenient they knew where and when to attack, right as the first day ended from their march out of the city. Which meant there was either a spy in Redcliffe, or a spy within. 

Jongdae was of course the likeliest suspect. A confessed assassin, sneaky and suspicious. Almost too good of a suspect though, which made Jongin wonder. Why had he outed himself so easily with his knife fighting skills? He might have pretended to be a King's messenger for longer and just cowered in fear during the skirmish. What had he to gain by saying he was an Antivan-trained assassin and then not actually do anything that could be viewed as remotely harmful? He was even training Sehun to duel, to defend himself!

The next on Jongin's list was of course the dwarf. Suho was quiet, practically sweet, but he had been laying out in the open and barely injured after his smuggler's caravan was raided, which was almost a little too convenient. He was clearly a member of the Carta, and despite his apparent fear towards the other warriors, he'd gravitated closer and closer towards Jongdae. Yet, he was almost motherly, and it wasn't outside Jongin's notice how he always ran first to try and protect Sehun when anything happened, however useless he might be in a fight. He might just be trying to hold his weight, be useful to the party so he wasn't kicked out or killed, either by them or by someone else.

Was it Xiumin, the apostate mage, wielder of powers unknown including possible blood magic? Jongin knew nothing about him except he had the power to charm and beguile, and Luhan was very nearly besotted. He'd been discovered in the Wilds, a haven for hedge mages and apostates, those who lived on the fringes of the world, the place from where the last Blight originated. Clearly a skilled and powerful mage, yet he too was quiet, considerate, thoughtful. Perhaps too smart.

Then there was Kris, their qunari mercenary. Jongin did not want to leap to suspect him, because a qunari's word was practically an oath, unless the mercenary already had a prior made pact. It was worth keeping an eye on him, no less because he was such a brute force, but also because he was occasionally suspicious, the way he stared at the different members with an indiscernible face.

Jongin could not suspect Luhan, the templar was such an open book. Chanyeol as well, because he was practically the closest member to Sehun, and by all accounts a completely faithful retainer. And then there was Baekhyun. It was in Jongin's best interest to trust the elven archer though. He was a hired man yes, basically a mercenary, but paid and appropriated directly by Sehun's grandfather's contacts, and therefore likely a trustworthy character. Even if Jongin knew absolutely nothing about him, not really. 

The problem was, it could be any one of them, or none at all, and Jongin had no way yet of telling. 

A log on the fire shifted and fell, sparks flying. Jongin crept forward and with a long branch he pushed the other logs over, and left that one on it too so it would burn a little brighter, keep them all warm. Now that Luhan and Xiumin had quit whispering to one another, everyone was silent, either dead asleep or snoring. All except for one.

Max squirmed uneasily, arms and legs bound, a cloth through his mouth to keep him from shouting, one spare blanket over him to keep him alive through the night, and then Jongin would ask the others and decide what should be done. He'd dozed for a little while, but now when Jongin looked at him, the man's eyes were open, burning, eyes on him.

He'd known nothing, or else claimed to, not talking at all when Jongin and Chanyeol had interrogated him, speaking only a few more words after Chanyeol left and Jongin questioned him again. He said they were out to claim something back, here to raid. They thought someone in this party had stolen their lord's treasure, but he wouldn't claim how they knew this or what the artifact might have been. All proof that it was a lie, and they were here for Sehun. But that didn't help Jongin's dilemma, discovering  _how_  they knew anything at all. How they'd known to send such a big force. 

Jongin cleared his throat and looked away, because Max's eyes were beginning to creep him out. There was something familiar about the man; he could just not lay his finger on it. He hadn't been around his lord's cousin's family in years, but that didn't mean a hired man from either branch couldn't occasionally trespass through the other family's territories. He might have seen Max before and not known who he was. Or maybe Jongin knew him from somewhere else, and only could not remember. Regardless, he'd give the man one last chance to cough up some details come morning. And then he could lay the matter to rest. For now.

 


	13. The Shine of an Emerald

The fog was gone the following morning, but none of their overnight problems had lifted with it. There was still the threat of looming attack, there was still the creature in the shadows, there was still Max, and no matter what angle Luhan looked at the situation from, really, this journey wasn't getting any easier. For half a second, he wished he hadn't been so quick to change courses and continue on. Just for half a second though, not that the fluctuating or non-fluctuating state of his mind brought him any reassurance. Because Luhan was having something of a serious dilemma, and all troubles aside, his personal dilemma began and ended and existed with Xiumin. 

Someone coughed next to him. Luhan jerked his head up to face the origin of the deep-voiced grumbler. “Yes, Kris? What is it?”

Kris coughed again, and not for the first time Luhan noted how generally awkward the qunari was, not a usual manner for their race, although it might have just been a personality quirk. “We... about... uhm. The bodies?”

“Oh, right!” Luhan suddenly remembered. “Yes, sorry. Supposed to be burning the bodies. Got it.”

His distraction had absolutely nothing to do with the mage and how  _close_  he was currently to Max. Nothing at all. They were trying to get out of here in good time, Jongin wanting to cover as much distance today as they were physically able. Anything to get as far along the road from both Redcliffe and West Hills as they could. In the meantime, first, they took turns washing themselves in the lake while Suho prepared a quick breakfast. Chanyeol oversaw the loading of their supplies, under Baekhyun's expert direction since nobody trusted the warrior's organizational skills anymore. Kris and Luhan were tasked with disposing the bodies of their attackers by setting up another fire lakeside and delivering their ashes to the Maker. All except for Max who was still very much alive and still not terribly disposed to talk. He complained of his wounds and demanded treatment before anything else, therefore Jongin called Xiumin over to them. And that made Luhan worried. 

“Your mage...” Kris began, as Luhan averted his eyes to the sight of Xiumin examining the half-bare, scarred stomach of their attacker. 

“What?” Luhan asked too quickly.

“He is an apostate?” Kris only wanted to confirm.

Luhan shrugged. “Yes. What of it?”

Just the barest hint of a grin appeared on Kris' face. “So, you are not worried about him?”

“I...”  Of course he was, for more than one reason, he worried. But Luhan could not figure out how to communicate that to the qunari, or come up with a reason why he even should. “Why? Does he bother you? Scared?”

Again, Kris almost smirked. “The Tal-Vashoth are not frightened by magic, not so much as your people are.” 

“Then why do you even ask?” He was being defensive, Luhan knew that. But where there was any suspicion on Xiumin, Luhan thought he had a right to be concerned. After all, it was his duty to be concerned with everything his 'prisoner' did or affected. Kris had no cause to know just how flimsy an excuse this really was.

They worked side by side now out of earshot from the others. The bodies they dragged were already much lighter than the night previous since Chanyeol had organized a loot-claiming party at first sunlight. The whole thing had amused Jongdae immensely. The assassin must be well used to leaving behind corpses but, as he related, usually he was so in-and-out that he had no time to stop and actually peruse the body for treasures. He went away with several precious gem necklaces he'd fought Suho over (the dwarf later got one anyways), while even Luhan plucked a ring from one dead man's finger that Xiumin said was enchanted to grant the wearer extra powers of strength. Luhan wasn't sure whether the mage was to be believed. Enchanted jewelry always sounded like a scam to him, and it didn't appear to have done the previous owner any good, but he pocketed the token anyways. 

“He took several potions bottles, you know.” 

Luhan almost jolted and dropped the body he was carrying, irritated to note that Kris was still on his little mini-rant about the mage.

“And?”

“Just curious if he was a healer, or something else.”

“He's not a healer necessarily.” But he did have a mean flair for potions and other aromatic concoctions, Luhan thought grimly in the back of his mind. Based on his experiences when they first met, when Xiumin had essentially drugged him, he knew the apostate wasn't one to mess with. 

“So... not a healer.” Kris seemed especially good at politely infuriating Luhan. He even smiled like he was aware of it.

“He just has some basic skills, that's all I know. And would you mind telling me again why you suddenly have so many questions?” Luhan tried not to fume too loudly. 

“Merely curious about this group of members. I was hired to guard and protect, remember. Why shouldn't I ask more about the people among us?” 

Luhan swallowed almost bitterly. “Unless you are looking at us suspiciously from within, I don't know why you bother.” 

“A warrior can't be too cautious,” Kris supplied. 

“And sometimes a warrior just needs to act when the occasion presents itself. Too much cautious over-thinking and you get caught with your mind out to pasture. If you're set on an interrogation, I propose you ask Jongin. He's the leader of this expedition, not me. I'm just along for the ride, and so is Xiumin.” 

“Perhaps I'll do that then.” 

“An excellent plan,” Luhan agreed to just to get him to shut up. His nose was already starting to clench from the smell of burning flesh. Luhan still hadn't gotten a chance to bathe, opting out until after this task was completed, although by now he was not relishing in the idea of sharing lake water with the overly large and suddenly chatty qunari mercenary. 

“So what about Baekhyun?” Kris suddenly asked, and Luhan sighed long and hard.

“What  _about_  Baekhyun? He's an elf. He shoots people with arrows. I told you to direct your inquiries towards Jongin if you want to know more.”

“Yes, but what if Jongin is just a little too close to some of these people? How does him being the leader mean his observations are as sharp as they should be?”

A fair question, but not one Luhan really knew how to answer. “Look, Kris. My advice is to keep your eyes open and your observations to yourself. I think you'll get far that way. Now let's finish up here so I can get this stench out of my hair and we can move on, huh?”

Kris seemed to agree. At least he huffed like he agreed. And then he muttered in a deep and appreciative voice, “Baekhyun though... I like his red hair.” There was almost a chuckle behind that, and Luhan knew it would be a world of trouble if he repeated that to anyone else.

“Did you hear me about the part where Baekhyun shoots people with arrows? Yeah, try to remember that.” 

By the time they were finished and then finally clean, it was to return to the campsite in the midst of an argument, and not surprisingly it had to do with Max, who wasn't even here. Neither were Jongin and Xiumin, and Chanyeol was  _hot_. He complained staunchly to anyone who would listen about the necessity of just killing the boy, and how there was no need to have him interrogated again, especially when done privately.

“Jongin has him?” Luhan verified as soon as they were within speaking distance.

“Yes,” fumed Chanyeol. “Waste of time, if you ask me. He didn't talk last night, why would he talk today?”

“Is Xiumin with them?” Luhan asked.

“He is,” answered Baekhyun. He was doing much better this morning, the shoulder wound nothing serious, although he was a little grumpy and complained about stifled shoulder mobility. 

“I'm thinking they're going to let that boy live, if the treatment of his injuries is anything to go by.” Jongdae was particularly cheerful this morning. Then again, he was always rather pumped after a good skirmish. The gleam in his eyes though seemed to taunt Luhan, who couldn't help twinging at something he wouldn't quite call jealousy but...  Xiumin had paid him almost no attention this morning. All his energies had been directed towards either Baekhyun or Max because Luhan was too stubborn to ask him to look at his sore shoulder muscles. 

“Like I said,” Chanyeol huffed again. “Waste of time. Everyone on the highway seems to want to kill Sehun - sorry, Sehun, don't mean to frighten you - and here we are politely questioning one of them!”

The boy in concern was lounging silently next to a tree beside the pack mule, and he didn't seem at all offended by Chanyeol's heavily vocalized rants. He sniffed and lifted one eyebrow, possibly to contradict the man but then he shrugged instead. Suho stood close by gazing softly towards the lakeside looking strangely relaxed.  

“So...” said Luhan. “We're just sitting around waiting to find out whether Max lives or dies?”

“On point, my friend,” Jongdae answered for everyone.

 

 

 

 

In a sense, Jongin guessed this was futile. Ever since the morning came, Max had been even less cooperative since he was first nagged. Probably because he felt better from his wounds, but he was now downright snarky with Jongin, a little cheekier with Xiumin. Downright taunting them both like he cared about nothing. The fact that he felt calm enough to even act that way rankled Jongin. Max was better off dead with his brethren. They had no obligation to keep him alive, take him along, or release him. After the fifth direct attempt to ask him to talk, Jongin was starting to agree with Chanyeol. He stood a tiny bit away from the man who lay on the ground, wrists lightly tied but his legs unbound. Xiumin had mostly cleaned and covered the gash on his ankle where Jongdae's dagger had landed. 

'Tell me again why you want me to heal him?' Xiumin had asked privately when Jongin first took him aside. Chanyeol woke up ready to put the man out of his misery outright, but Jongin insisted on one last chance.

'It's uh... like a bait and switch? Give and take. He  _knows_  something, and apparently having Chanyeol break his arm last night didn't jog his memory well enough.' Jongin winced at the memory of the bone snapping, however Max had been made of stronger stuff.

Xiumin had sighed. 'Are you sure you know anything about interrogation?' 

Jongin did not answer. Not until Xiumin sighed again and said, 'This  _knowing_  is important to you, huh?' 

'It is' Jongin agreed. 'Help me, please?'

He knew the mage, the apostate, was under no obligation to do anything he didn't want to. He was also aware how Xiumin wasn't technically in a position to make his own decisions - Luhan was - but Jongin had little recourse left to do. He granted Luhan one pleading look across the campsite where he knew the templar had been observing them speak, and Luhan had frowned but he nodded sternly soon after that. 

Now though, away from prying eyes, with Max still being uncooperative and Xiumin crouching a foot away from the man awaiting instructions, Jongin didn't know what to do. He had nothing to add to his speculations from the night before and he was no closer to learning if there was a spy in his camp or not. The likeliest explanation was that the Arl's plans had leaked even beyond West Hills and somebody had observed them passing through Redcliffe. 

Jongin drew his sword. The time for dealing with nonsense was over. He thought he even saw Max smirk, as if the boy had been expecting this all along.

“Finally going to put me out of my misery?” he asked, lips in a snarl.

“Since you have nothing else to contribute,” Jongin replied.

“Well then, guess you better get along and do it.” Max smiled, and then he added, “If you can.”

Jongin paused only momentarily. “What do you mean, if I can?” 

Xiumin stood up to approach him, whispering, “Jongin... who's baiting who now? Just do it.”

“Yeah, what your apostate says. Xiumin? Is that even his name?”

Both of them froze this time, Jongin in confusion, Xiumin because the question to his name suddenly made him stop, eyebrows raised. “Excuse me?” he asked the boy. 

“How do you know he's an apostate?” Jongin asked.

Max smirked again. Laying down, tied up and injured, he appeared as cool as if he was orchestrating this whole event. “No particular reason?” He shrugged. “Just by... oh, the way he's dressed? Those are no Circle robes, or none like I've seen before.”

“You're a backwoods soldier serving a second-rate family line, how would you know anything about Circle mages?” Jongin hissed. 

“I've seen his kind before?”

“Jongin, this is a waste of time, as Chanyeol said. Let's just kill him and be done here,” said Xiumin, frustrated. 

“Your mage has some good advice. But will you take it, Jongin?”

Jongin had taken enough snark already. He hovered over the boy and glared down at him, sword in his arm but not yet raised. “And why wouldn't I?  _Max?_ ” 

Max actually smiled, and that also rankled Jongin wrong. “Can you keep a secret Jongin? I can. I know you can as well.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jongin, enough with the word play. We should be going...” Xiumin posited impatiently. 

Max, however, paid him no mind. He continued to look directly at Jongin. “Merely saying I know you can keep a secret. I know  _you_... can.”

A chill ran through Jongin’s body at his words, a reminder of something familiar, either in Max’s face or in the boy’s words. Ignoring Xiumin, Jongin stared at the captive long and hard, forehead crinkled, and something about his expression must have shown because Max continued smiling.

“I’m almost a little disappointed, Jongin, that you don’t remember me.”

“W-What?”

“You don’t do you?” said Max.

“Of course I don’t,” Jongin declared, not believing even himself.

“Jongin?” Xiumin questioned suddenly? “Do… you know him?”

“I don’t…”

But Max contradicted him. “You do.”

Aware that the mage was now staring at him suspiciously, Jongin took a few steps back, as if by doing that he could break whatever memory trance Max was slowly luring him into. His face, his eyes, his voice… everything was familiar to him, but fuzzy. Like it had been a long while. As if he’d known Max when he—when they—were both much, much younger.

“Max?” he asked aloud, trying to remember something in the name. “Is that your real name?”

The boy grinned and shook his head. “No, but I think you’re getting close. I have… I have something that may remind you though?” Max looked at Xiumin then who was closer. “Around my neck there’s a necklace. I’d show it you but, well my arm still kind of aches. Hurts to bend it upwards.”

Since Jongin showed no intention of wanting to see whatever this necklace was, Xiumin glanced at him asking for permission instead. Jongin nodded but he did not move closer. He kept his sword held low, palming the grip in case Max tried anything funny. He still couldn’t place him, but Jongin knew now that they must have met him before. If only he could remember.

Xiumin knelt by him again, otherwise unfazed by the way Max craned his neck back almost sensually so that Xiumin could feel above his collarbones for the string necklace tried around him. He pulled it out with one delicate hand revealing a ring looped through the end and tied in a knot. Xiumin lifted it up so that it dangled below his fingers and looked at Jongin.

“Well?” he asked. Jongin only frowned because it did not help.

“Bring it to me?”

Xiumin nodded and then reached beneath his boot revealing a dagger Jongin hadn’t known he was carrying. However, he only used it to cut the thick cord, Max wincing in the process as it tugged against his neck, and the necklace fell off in Xiumin’s hands.  He stood up, replacing the dagger where it belonged, and balanced the necklace between his fingers, ring still dangling down. Jongin got one quick glance of a dark silver band with markings around it and a curiously cut emerald, when Xiumin accidentally touched his bare fingers to the stone and immediately shrieked.

There was chaos in that second. The mage dropped to his knees like he’d been burned, Jongin rushed forward towards him, and Max made his move. There was no time to stop him. The ties on his wrist did not hinder him from rolling onto his knees, and the wounded ankle wasn’t stopping him either. Meanwhile Xiumin cried out again and again, convulsing on the ground, and right away he could hear the sounds of the rest of their party scrambling towards them.

Too late, Jongin remembered to accost Max, but he was disoriented and not expecting the man to fight back with his broken arm. An elbow caught Jongin across his nose, temporarily blinding him with pain, but it was just the second Max needed to make his break. He dashed into the forest just as Luhan collapsed by Xiumin’s side and Chanyeol and Kris roared past him intent on catching Max.

An arrow though had them ducking, and it wasn’t from the direction where Baekhyun was.

“There’s someone helping him!” Chanyeol’s fury blazed and he growled. Two more arrows and they all ducked again. “Maker’s breath, what is this? A rescue party? For one guy?!”

A horse whined loudly, and not one of theirs either. By the time the warriors could stand up and rush out from their cover, all they heard were the hooves of a single horse racing away from them, and silence elsewhere.

Chanyeol began cursing louder than Jongin had ever heard him. It was punctuated only by mini rants at Jongin for letting him get away, as Max would surely be leagues away before any of them could grab one of their own horses and go after him, possibly into a trap.

“I thought he could barely even walk!? And I broke his arm! How is this even possible?”

“Uhm, friends? What is the matter with Xiumin?”

In his anger, Chanyeol hadn’t even noticed how the mage was on the ground, eyes closed but still writhing in apparent pain. Luhan panted over him fearfully while he tapped his face, felt his pulse and was practically crying himself.

The ring Jongin had already forgotten about lay by his side. Jongdae’s eyes immediately alighted to.

“Don’t touch it!” Jongin cried out, before the assassin could pick it up. “I fear it could be cursed.”

“You let that thing get away  _and_  got Xiumin hurt?” Baekhyun finally meandered to where they were, a frightened looking Sehun and Suho behind him. Alistair immediately dashed between their legs and ran towards his master, crouching on the ground and nudging Xiumin’s face from where Luhan had pulled his head off the ground and into his lap. “Seems like I missed a lot.”

The elf also knelt beside Xiumin and felt his forehead. Xiumin had begun to whimper less, his body convulsing less, but his eyes were still shut tight and his face twisted torturously.

“Xiumin? Xiumin?” Luhan continued to whisper. “Xiumin, what’s wrong?”

“He’s passed out,” said Baekhyun. “Someone show me what he touched.”

Jongdae had put on a glove. He now held the cut necklace by the tips, careful to avoid the ring and the gemstone, and he held it up into the light.

“Be careful,” Jongin warned Baekhyun unnecessarily. The elf was also pulling out a glove which shoved his fingers into. He let Jongdae continue to hold it in the air while he examined it closely with just his eyes, cautiously fingering the string right above it to twist it around and catch the light.

“What is it?” asked Chanyeol.

“Ahhh,” said Baekhyun unhelpfully.

“Is it cursed?”

“Can it be reversed?”

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes, concentrating hard and everyone held their breaths, hoping he could tell something about it. Finally, he spoke. “Not cursed. Enchanted though. Definitely enchanted. It’s probably just put him into a dream-like state, although I can’t tell for how long he’ll be like that.”

Luhan cried a little more, his fingers still glancing off Xiumin’s face and through his hair.

“How can you tell?” asked Jongin.

Baekhyun smiled, then with a little daredevil grin, he poked the emerald with his gloved finger, and everyone gasped.

Nothing happened though, except that Jongin’s heart rate suddenly sped up, and then it slowed down.

“The markings on it. They’re elven, although I can’t really make them out too well. There is, however, a set of initials engraved on the inside of the band. Jongin do you know them? S-C-M. If this guy’s name was Max, then who is SCM?”

All eyes turned to Jongin just as another chill swept over his body. He knew those initials. In fact, he knew them quite well. Or at least, he had know them. Known him. Just like Max had said.

_SCM._

_Shim._

_Chang._

_Min._

Jongin’s first and earliest and a long time unmet best childhood friend.

“Andraste’s arse. That was Changmin himself.”


	14. Nightingale's Eyes

_It was the sound of water that seemed to awaken him. Xiumin heard without seeing the trickle of a stream, the faint splashes of a small waterfall. He could almost taste and smell the air, rich and mossy, fragrant but old. As if nobody had stepped here in a very long time. As if no visitors but him had disturbed it for many hundreds of years._

_He opened his eyes, wondering how hard it would be to move. He only remembered receiving a shock, followed by pain, although even now he couldn't remember why. Didn't know what had brought him to this state, but it was surprisingly easy to sit up. His body felt light as air, weightless, almost as if he wasn't even there. Only his head felt faint, his entire vision swimming before his eyes. If he'd had a body, he might have thrown up. Instead he only dry heaved but not even the sounds of him coughing disturbed the air. There were no sounds at all beyond the waterfall. Nobody was here, not even him._

_His mind swam, thoughts beginning to take form. He was dreaming, he must be dreaming. Unless this was some kind of complicated magic that he'd only heard rumors of. An out of body experience-yet even further than that. Was this the Fade? That dreamlike world visited only by the spirits who traveled from one world to the next? That shadowy realm of where innocents were caught, where mages drew their power, or from where the demons of this world enticed? Xiumin couldn't tell. Only his brother had ever claimed to see that world from somewhere deep in trance, but whether or not he'd actually visited that place, Xiumin didn't know and his brother had never divulged how. It was impossible anyways, to physically go there. Perhaps though, it was just a dream?_

_Xiumin tested his voice._ Where.. _. but even that was swallowed up by the air, still fragrant but faintly stale. His feet stepped silently over moss-covered stones, barely even touching the ground, as if he were floating. Arms reached out to push back the overhanging branches of foliage, a kind of jungle he'd never seen, but maybe he recognized the fronds, the flowers. The leaves gave way before his fingers even made contact, revealing the way._

_It was a path he followed, winding through the greenery. Each step brought him closer to the source of the water, the only thing his ears could hear. Closer and then sometimes farther, to the left but then from the right. He followed the stones, widening now and every so often marked by rubble statues, ancient artistry gone to ruin._

_From the distance he heard a voice, a whisper, calling a name he could not make out. Was it his name, or someone else's? He followed it, hovering over the path even as he walked, quicker now, more anxious now. The trees grew larger, the flowers a shade brighter, the green more vibrant. Yet at every other blink it seemed to fade, and then flicker, and then brighten again, as if the whole world was there, but not, edging on the boundaries of reality._

_He heard the voice again, a name... and this time he knew it was definitely his name. And the person calling to him... neither man nor woman, he could not tell. He only hearkened after the voice, the sounds of the waterfall drawing near._

You are close, _the voice seemed to say._

_Xiumin paused, suddenly frightened, and when he stared before him, his arm holding back another large palm-like frond, he caught himself staring at the glistening shine of a jewel upon his hand. A ring upon his finger, ornate bands wrapped around a large, gleaming emerald._

_He let go of the branch which slapped him in the face, or seemed to fling right through him. Xiumin cried out, silently, eyes closed from the shock and his head swam once more, stomach reeling. When he opened his eyes he was in a different place, the sanctuary of a large open temple and in the center of it was no waterfall, no stream, but a well from which waters bubbled and flowed serenely. Larger and wider than the height of several human bodies, the well simmered low to the ground, at foot level if Xiumin were to approach it. Something shimmered above the waters, a gleam that might have been a figure, a spirit, but Xiumin could not tell who or even what._

You are not alone,  _it whispered to him though._

_Xiumin shivered, a prickle upon his neck as if he was being watched. And he was. Besides himself and the shimmer, and the ring on his finger which glowed and pulsed like a heartbeat, a shadow hovered to his left, far enough away to not pose a threat but startling all the same. He was small like a little boy, completely robed and his face was hidden behind a dusky shawl, only two hands visible from where they extended beyond the sleeves of an otherwise long, dark robe. Gray hands, and if Xiumin were truly here he might have begun to sweat. Instead he stared at the boy and asked the first question that came to mind._

Are you human?

_The boy did not respond. Neither did the shimmering voice above the well, though Xiumin could feel it - her? - humming._

_He looked back at the shadowy boy, still awaiting an answer._

Maybe?

_Xiumin tensed, staring as for the first time the boy began to move, just his arms as they lifted towards the shawl masking his face. Xiumin was suddenly afraid to see it, to see him, whatever he was, and yet he couldn't look away. The ring on his finger began to pulse, almost to the point of burning pain, and twice the vision swam before his eyes, fading and blackening, before he could focus once more on the boy. The shimmer above the water hummed even louder, the waters themselves swirled faster, collecting the fallen foliage and debris of emerald green leaves from where they'd laid dormant upon the edges. The whole thing shone like jewels but the noise grew ferocious. Xiumin sunk to his knees, hands around his ears as he tried to keep his eyes open to see..._

_Before it all blacked out once, and for good._

 

 

_Come to me..._

 

_Come to me my child..._

 

_I will embrace you..._

 

_Come to me my child..._

 

_This is the well of all souls..._

 

_Come to me my child and I will embrace you..._

 

_This is the well of all souls..._

 

_In my arms lies eternity..._

 

_Come to me my child..._

 

_For here lies the abyss..._

 

_From these emerald waters doth life begin anew..._

 

_Come to me my child..._

 

_For I will embrace you..._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

" _Nightingale's eyes can free the ties from our eyes!_ "

 

 

"Baekhyun, do you think you can stop singing now, please?" Luhan asked politely.

"Why should I? I'm bored."

Luhan groaned. For a whole day they'd been traveling, and Baekhyun had been singing for well over half of it. The elf had a nice voice, but after six hours Luhan was starting to crave the peace and silence that usually came with being on the road.

"Just a suggestion..." he added lamely, pleading nicely in the hopes that would be enough to make him halt, just for a little while. 

The assassin was also no help. "Oh come on, Luhan, he's bored. We're all bored. Let the elf keep singing! It's entertaining us all." 

Since nobody else contributed to the discussion, Baekhyun just chuckled and kept going.

" _Nightingale's eyes can free the ties from our eyes!_ "

"You sang that part already," Luhan muttered. He shifted uncomfortably on the saddle, trying not to be annoyed. After the morning's events, and the body he was supporting, he failed miserably.

"Oh, did I? Pardon me, then. What's the next line? Oh yes:  _We're hiding from the fighting, longing to see."_

_"_ Hardly hiding," Chanyeol quipped out of nowhere, almost sounding amused.

" _We're waiting for someone to speak and set us all free... freeeee!"_

Luhan clenched shut his eyes for a moment, hands gripping tighter upon the reins he held between his tired hands. Against his chest and between his thighs Xiumin's body melded to him, head resting back sideways against Luhan's shoulder and neck. The body that had seemed so light this morning had grown heavier with time, yet this was the only way to carry him, on horseback. Sehun had even given up his saddle when the mage didn't wake, because Jongin refused to waste any more time and nobody - Luhan in particular - wanted to leave Xiumin behind. 

He was breathing still, and that was the only consolation Luhan had, the life-bearing hope in which he clung while Xiumin hung in a trance-like state. Baekhyun said he was okay, somewhere in his mind, but bodily and functionally Xiumin was a deadweight and unconscious and unresponsive to everything. His heart beat, his breath tickled Luhan's neck, and every few hours Luhan pulled the horse to a standstill so he could shift the mage's body from one side to the other, but never would he let anyone else do the honor.

Jongin wanted to put as much distance between them and the raiders as they could, especially with Max—Changmin, as they knew now—escaped and on the loose. There was no telling if another party would come after them again, and nobody wanted to risk it. 

_"Nightingale's eyes, what secret lies in their worth!"_  Baekhyun sang.

This time Luhan tuned him out almost completely. Beside him upon the ground Alistair trotted silently, his large hound's feet crunching upon the fallen leaves, slobbering generously. He hadn't gone one step beyond the mage's side since Xiumin had fallen unconscious. Their scout dog was now a one-man animal. When they'd stopped for a midday meal, he had crouched immediately at Luhan's side when he laid Xiumin on the ground, sniffing him again as if to verify his master was still okay. It was another small comfort, that Alistair also hadn't given up hope. When the templar turned his back for a second too long, the hound had licked one large stripe up Xiumin's cheek. Luhan had squeaked and shooed him away, before taking a corner of his bedroll and wiping the spit off the mage's delicate face. 

He wouldn't say aloud how much it hurt to see Xiumin like this, but everybody seemed to know. They gave him distance all day, and Baekhyun, in between singing and scouting and complaining about his shoulder, came to check up on him every few hours. As if the elf would know before Luhan if anything changed. Truthfully, if Xiumin hadn't been asleep, he would have loved this time together, holding him, cradling him against his body, sometimes holding him with one hand around his waist while he lead the horse with his other hand. He wondered what the mage would think when he woke up, if he would scold Luhan or taunt him. 

_If_  he woke up.

The ring they'd found was now safely tucked away between multiple layers of cloth. They all knew what it looked like now, and nobody was allowed to touch it. Chanyeol was given the task of keeping it safe, folded in the bottom of the pack he carried personally upon his back, and though Suho had suggested getting rid of the object completely, he was only one voice against the rest of them.

'It's too dangerous to just toss it away,' Jongin had said. Even Luhan agreed with him, although he didn't know what value there was to actually keeping it, if it could do such harm by its merest touch. 

_"Raven's tears they cry, but all the while, they softly lie and spy on you."_

"Baekhyun can't you at least pick a different song—" Luhan opened his mouth to say something sweet and bitter, but surprisingly he was cut off.

"Don't stop him now. I want to want to know more about the raven," said Kris, oddly intense and sounding genuinely curious.

Luhan swallowed his retort, yet he caught the qunari's face dipping into a smile. Luhan shook his head, because there was really no accounting for taste. 

_"Nightingale's eyes, what will they find left behind?"_  Baekhyun continued to sing. However, he frowned after that line and said, "You know? It doesn't talk too much about the raven. Sorry for that, Kris!" 

Baekhyun laughed, the qunari shrugged his tall shoulders, and even Jongin said in a soft, appraising voice, "That's okay, Baekhyun. You can keep singing. We don't mind." 

Luhan re-angled the mage's body against his chest, halfway jealous that Xiumin had gotten to sleep this whole day long.

 

 

 

 

 

Xiumin only came to around dusk. Shortly before they were to stop for the evening, Luhan felt him starting to squirm. His eyelids fluttered first, then he startled and jerked, and Luhan almost dropped him.

"He's awake!" 

Yelling, however, seemed to startle him even more. Xiumin cried out, gasping for breath, and his arms flew up, one heavy wrist slamming right into the bottom of Luhan's chin. Both of them choked as Luhan struggled to rein in the horse  _and_  hold onto the mage who was now flopping all over the place. 

"Xiumin! It's okay! Calm down!" he cried.

"What's going?" Baekhyun called out, running to their side. Alistair barked once, a triumphant sound. 

Chanyeol ran up to the side of the horse, arms reaching out as Luhan let Xiumin slide safely down the animal's side. The taller warrior caught him around the middle and sat him upon the ground just as Luhan swung one leg over and dropped down beside him. 

"Are you okay?" he asked breathlessly, once Xiumin stopped squirming. His body relaxed, and his eyes fell open, but he looked less freaked out now and once he caught sight of Luhan hovering above him, he seemed much easier. Luhan's heart caught in his throat when he didn't look away. Xiumin's eyes, searching, seeking, held his own as if no one else existed but the two of them.

And then Xiumin had to ruin it by asking, "Where's Sehun?" He stared at Luhan for a moment longer, and then he looked around. Chanyeol stepped back, Baekhyun and Jongin as well, and from behind Kris Sehun stepped forward. 

"I'm... here?" 

"Sehun? Are you alright?" His concern wasn't exactly frantic, but still strangely evident above all other considerations. Namely, the fact that he'd been knocked unconscious by a powerful spell.

Luhan didn't laugh, but Sehun almost did as he knelt down next to him. "Of course I am. Are  _you_  alright?" 

Xiumin visibly sighed when he observed Sehun smiling at him, although Luhan frowned harder.

"Do you know what happened to you?" Baekhyun asked. 

"What do you mean?"

"You touched that ring and then fell into a trance," Jongin answered for him. "Can you tell us what happened?" Everyone began leaning over him to hear, and Luhan tried in vain to push them all away.

"He needs space, give him a second."

Only Suho seemed to make himself useful, bringing over a flask of water for Xiumin to sip from. The mage's eyes darted around to everyone surrounding him, stopping a little longer again on Sehun, and then Luhan. He chugged more from the flask, almost choking on it, but as Luhan tugged it out of his arms, Xiumin was already talking.

"The r-ring. Where is it?"

"Safe. Covered up," Jongin answered.

"Chanyeol has it," said Baekhyun. "It was enchanted, Xiumin. Did you know that when you touched it?"

Xiumin shook his head. "No. I barely even remember what happened before I touched it. But I... I dreamed... something." He swallowed heavily, body suddenly collapsing and Luhan was the quickest to support his back. "What happened after... after I... and where are we? What about Max? W-what happened to... him?" 

"He escaped," Chanyeol answered. "We've been traveling all day to put some distance between us and them. Luhan's been holding you on horseback."

Luhan tried not to flush, even as Sehun said, "Yeah. I even gave up riding so we didn't have to leave you behind." He chuckled, and Xiumin seemed to melt again, but his eyes darted curiously at Luhan again. 

"So... I've been sleeping all day?"

"Like a beauty," quipped Baekhyun. "You were like the dead. Nothing would wake you, and believe me, we tried everything. Luhan even tried to kiss you awake!" He cackled.

"What! I did  _not_!" Luhan hotly protested, cheeks blushing furiously red. Honestly he may have thought about it, but he would  _never_... The rest of them also laughed, and that embarrassed him even more because of course Baekhyun would try to make a joke that only Luhan wouldn't find funny. However, Xiumin in particular seemed amused by it. His eyes softened as he chuckled, cheeks puffy and smile wide, and even though he looked generally alright for someone who had been unconscious for almost an entire day, he looked exhausted mentally. And maybe a little hungry.

"Do we have any food?" Luhan asked of Suho. 

The dwarf fetched them some dried beef, and then because Jongin and Baekhyun deemed this place unsafe for a camp, they helped Xiumin and Luhan back up onto the horse to ride a few leagues further since the mage was still incredibly weak. All further questions about what had happened were set aside until later and even though Jongdae kept being impertinent, marching next to them and asking silly questions (like who did he dream about), Xiumin did not answer any of them. He finally trotted off after Luhan tried unsuccessfully to kick him away. Then the templar tried not to react when Xiumin appeared to sigh again and sink back into his chest. 

"Have I been a pain this whole day?" asked the mage quietly, when nobody was close enough to overhear.

"Not so much," Luhan replied. "Although, you're asking that from the person who's gotten to ride a horse for the first time in weeks. I'd say it's a rather nice change from walking." 

Xiumin smiled. "Happy to oblige. I guess that means I should pass out more often?"

Luhan couldn't see more than the outline of Xiumin's nose, but he could hear the amusement in the mage's voice. He just didn't want to continue the joke. Xiumin speaking so casually about falling into a trance after writhing around in pain was a scene Luhan would like never to see repeated in this lifetime, or any others. And also, how could he tell the man about how Luhan's heart almost stopped as well, when he'd heard him scream? How it was beating anew right now? How Luhan had gotten attached to the mage far more than even he realized?

"I think... I think you'll be able to walk by tomorrow, right?" Luhan cleared his throat hastily. 

Xiumin fake-whined. "Awww, so no more riding for us?" 

"Well, only if you can persuade Sehun it's necessary."

"Oh right. This is his horse. I'm surprised he would even give it up." Xiumin hummed.

"Not too surprising, I suppose," said Luhan. "He seems to like you."

"Does he?" Xiumin fell silent for a few moments, rocking with the motion of the animal as his legs dangled off either side of the horse, occasionally bumping against's Luhan's. "So what about you then?"

"Huh?" Luhan panicked.

"Yeah. What did you do when I fainted? Did your heart grow weak? Were you afraid it was a fake? Is that why you scooped me up because you were afraid it was a stunt so that I could actually run away?" Xiumin was laughing the whole time, evidently tickled by Luhan's fuming silence.

"I... I..." he sputtered.

"Don't hurt yourself now," Xiumin continued to tease. "I wouldn't want to accidentally fall off because you suddenly couldn't sit upright!"

Luhan ate whatever words he did plan and staunchly cleared his throat. "You're supposed to be resting," he ordered the mage. 

"Ohhh? Am I? Sorry, sorry." 

Luhan sat up a little straighter than before and tugged on the reins so that Xiumin had to inadvertently sit up more as well. They rode on in silence for the rest of the evening, waiting for the word from Jongin, who was consulting with Kris, about where to settle down for the night. 

"Remind me though," Xiumin whispered to Luhan, long after they'd given up talking. 

"Hm?"

"Remind me to tell you something... It has to do with Sehun and... well, tomorrow perhaps." Xiumin shut up when he realized how quiet it had grown, how the others might hear. 

"Okay?" said Luhan, although he thought it sounded ominous. 

 


	15. Into Shadows

Something nagged at Sehun in the middle of the night, as it had been for weeks already. And like the night previous, when most were asleep, he crept out of his bedroll, whispered to Luhan who was sitting up with Alistair about needing to relieve himself, and took off through the first line of trees. The road had veered somewhat from the lake, which was a shame because now that the fog had cleared, he might have had a great view. There were only trees, however, and between their branches glimpses of the night sky, few stars twinkling and an overly large moon. A light northernly breeze that hinted of winter from off the tips of the Frostback Mountains.

Sehun went about his business, slowly, casually, like nothing was amiss. He heard Alistair trot up behind him and sit on his haunches, waiting. They were both waiting. 

How come they never saw Kyungsoo during the day? The question had been nagging at him for the past twenty-four hours. How they never saw him on the road, but how he was always behind them. How he always caught up, apparently without fail in the night. Were they so easy to follow, to track? And if Kyungsoo was able to do it for weeks on end, then others probably could as well.  _Had_  actually, the night before. Would he settle when they did, near to his aunt's manor? It still begged the question of why he was following them, why he was so attached to... Sehun.

He wasn't sure when he became able to tell, to sense the other's approach. Kyungsoo, as he'd introduced himself. 

"You're back," he said, no question to his tone.

He saw Kyungsoo only in his peripheral vision, as if turning to look at the man... creature...  _boy_... too intently would cause him to disappear, as he had a tendency to do. 

"Good evening," the other replied with a twinge of humor. 

Alistair did not greet him this evening; the hound only panted lazily, showing no cause for alarm and Sehun was comforted by this, more than anyone knew. If only he knew what to say, however. Every question, every thought. Everything caught in his throat, as if words were trivial when faced with him.

"Kyungsoo." He started with his name.

"Yes?" said the boy after a few moments' hesitation. He'd already pulled back part of his robes revealing his face. Without turning his body, Sehun craned his neck to stare at him directly, confronted with the same sallow skin on what might otherwise have been beautiful features. He wanted to know, needed to know, what had happened to him, if anything. Because Kyungsoo was unnatural and everyone knew it. 

When he didn't reply, Kyungsoo crept forward, slowly but of sure step. "You wanted to ask me something?"

Sehun nodded, swallowing thickly as nerves blocked his airway. 

"You want to know what I am? Who I am?"

Again Sehun could only nod. Kyungsoo, however, didn't seem disposed to tell him with words. "Give me your hand."

"What?"

The boy nodded impatiently, head jerking in the direction of Sehun's arm. Reluctantly he held up his hand, rotating it so that his palm faced up when Kyungsoo nodded again. It pleased him evidently, seeing his palm bared, but Sehun only thought about the marks he left, gray and ashen, like death. His heartbeat sped up when Kyungsoo brought up his own hand, leading by his fingers until they hovered above. He held his breath too when Kyungsoo held there, dark eyes darting once to check Sehun's face as if wondering if he would bolt, and truthfully Sehun wanted to. But this was the closest he'd been to Kyungsoo ever when they were face to face. He couldn't back down now.

Nothing magical happened though. Kyungsoo trailed an index finger down the center of his hand, lips pursed, and Sehun only felt a slight tickle. Where his finger touched of course there was the gray streak, but by now that was nothing unusual. 

"H-How..." Sehun stuttered. 

Kyungsoo drew his hand back and stepped away, although Sehun did not move, not even dropping his outstretched hand. 

"How?" The question amused him. "It's not magic, Sehun, if that's what you think."

_Sehun._ He knew his name too. Sehun visibly panicked. 

"How did-"

Kyungsoo shrugged before he'd even finished the question. "How did I know your name? You ask strange questions, Sehun. But I heard it before of course. Your companions do not travel in silence after all."

Sehun swallowed again, determined to ask something more pertinent this time, before Kyungsoo vanished on him again. "Why are you following us?"

Kyungsoo inclined his head, as if thinking how to answer, or if he even  _did_ want to answer. He opened his mouth, cracked a wry smile instead, and then suddenly whipped his head to a place behind Sehun's back, in the direction of the campsite. They were no longer alone. Kyungsoo moved to dart away, but a second later they heard someone shout, "Wait!"

Xiumin's voice. Xiumin's footsteps edging through the trees towards the commotion and surprisingly, Kyungsoo did as he asked, one hand shielding his body, the other staining the bark of a tree. He hovered there, eyes alight and cautious, watching Xiumin's every move. The mage scrambled over a fallen tree branch and clutched at Sehun's arm, still weak from his earlier ordeal, but his eyes never left the other. "Please. Wait."

Kyungsoo stared him down, and though he'd told Sehun the gray mark was not magical, Sehun couldn't help but wonder. His posture, the way he held his palm out defensively, the way Xiumin held suddenly still. He'd brought no staff but the mage too held an aggressive stance. Alistair stood up proudly by his side.

"What do you want?" said Kyungsoo, and his tone was not nearly as carefree as when he'd spoken with Sehun.

Xiumin glanced at Sehun, and Sehun felt strangely unafraid. He knew he probably should be, standing as he was in the middle of a showdown. 

"I could ask the same of you," Xiumin replied. 

Kyungsoo only hardened his glare. "Mage like yourself, I thought perhaps you'd already know."

"Maybe," said Xiumin. And this was news to Sehun. The mage sounded uncertain though, but he was a whole lot more sure about his words than Sehun was. 

They didn't get to continue, not with Luhan stumbling quickly from the same place Xiumin had appeared and squawking aloud when he saw Kyungsoo. The boy, however, only moved further behind the tree, more defensive but at least he didn't bolt. For some reason Sehun didn't want him to bolt, although he wasn't so sure now about Kyungsoo's relative safety.

"Hush," Xiumin demanded, a hand behind him to stall Luhan's advance. He still clutched at Sehun's arm and once he seemed sure that Kyungsoo wouldn't run, he twisted Sehun's arm to stare at his palm. The gray streak, like all the other marks, was already beginning to fade. Xiumin dropped his arm as soon as he was satisfied, and then stared once more at Kyungsoo. A tense few moments passed where nobody spoke. Kyungsoo held his spot, the rest held theirs. Alistair drooled but otherwise nobody moved. Luhan was the bravest one in the end, ignoring Xiumin's warning as he crept up next to him, feet disturbing the leaves as Kyungsoo observed him carefully.

Then Xiumin spoke again. "You've been following us."

Kyungsoo smiled. "Not you. Just him." 

Sehun stiffened unconsciously, jaw tightening. 

"Sehun?" inquired the mage. "Why?"

Kyungsoo shrugged, barely moving, his eyebrows and cheekbones suddenly more expressive than they'd been by far, albeit indifferently. "Maybe I like him?" 

Xiumin asked faintly, "Is that all?"

Again he smirked, committing to nothing. It made Sehun's blood race though, this proof that he was something of value: the reason for why Kyungsoo was here at all, whatever the truth may be.

Luhan found his voice finally too. "If you aren't here to harm anyone, then why do you only lurk behind us?" 

Kyungsoo smiled. "Who said I am harmless?" 

"You can cut the games," Xiumin intervened. "It's a good question though. You've done nothing but follow us in the shadows. Why not come out before now? Why hide yourself?"

"Would you show yourself if you looked like me?" Kyungsoo's eyes were calculating, his voice harsh but still slightly playful. Sehun was beginning to recognize that familiar sound. "Why show myself at all? You wouldn't trust me. And I don't trust any of you, not really," Kyungsoo continued to speak.

As if to prove his point, Luhan whispered in Minseok's ear, probably not expecting his voice to carry, but of course it did in the still night air. "What's wrong with him?" he asked, even as Xiumin grimaced. 

Kyungsoo sighed, resigned. "You see? I look sick, ill, diseased, dare some people say... blighted? Of course that means there must be something wrong with me. Why would anyone think differently?" He feigned indifference, maybe because he was used to it. "I don't come into the light because I like my own company."

"Yet you've followed us halfway across the map," said Luhan. 

Despite the accusatory message, Kyungsoo wasn't paying the templar any attention. Instead his eyes darted in between Xiumin and Sehun, then back again, and Sehun just knew there was something he was missing. Something that Xiumin knew, or at least suspected, and Kyungsoo knew it as well. He wanted to ask the mage, but he feared scaring Kyungsoo away. His hand tingled where the boy had touched him, but only because his brain was starting to spin. 

"Are you... do you have anything to do with them? With the men who attacked us last night?" No one had expected Sehun to speak, but he had to ask.

"Them?" Kyungsoo scoffed. "Those ignorant fools? Of course not."

"Those ignorant fools came for blood," said Luhan. "And they almost got it too. How can you cast them off so lightly? Are you in league with them? Their spy?"

"Like I'd tell you if I was," Kyungsoo hissed, but once again Xiumin hushed them both. 

"Luhan, Sehun, please... go back to the campfire."

"What?" the templar echoed, and Sehun wasn't far behind him. 

Xiumin was standing very still, eyes still on Kyungsoo as if they were holding a private conversation, something they intended to finish. 

"I want to talk to him... alone. Do you mind?" Again the question was on Kyungsoo. Luhan started to protest but was silenced when Xiumin held a hand up to his arm, as he was doing to both of them. Sehun felt no choice but to agree. He nodded once, whispered his assent and then pulled back, drawing Luhan away too. 

The last they saw of them, Xiumin and Kyungsoo were still many yards apart, cautious, speculative. Middle of the night and in this half-light, moon streaming through the overhang of tree limbs, both appeared to belong to the night, or were owned by it. 

 

 

 

 

 

"He's gone?!"

"What do you mean, he didn't come back?"

Only Baekhyun was truly worried; Jongin was more bewildered, the others were silent and Sehun was just completely stunned. Luhan knew neither one of them had fallen asleep that night, not after Xiumin's dismissal when they returned to the fire. Sehun tossed and turned and maybe snuck up a little closer to Luhan's pallet, his eyes never straying far from the direction from which they'd returned. Luhan as well was worried, although he tried to hide it better. The fear that perhaps the mage wouldn't come back unharmed, or if he'd come back at all. Xiumin had been so weak too, almost fragile as he stood upright, supporting himself between the two of them. And they had left him.

Morning came early and still there was no sight of the mage, nor of Kyungsoo. When questioned Luhan looked intently at Sehun as they shared a silent missive, something only they understood:  _Don't mention the other one_. And Luhan liked to think they agreed because they both trusted Xiumin, that the mage knew what he was doing  _and_  who he wanted to speak privately to, even if they did not. 

"So, your mage has finally fled, has he?" Jongdae could be an irritating little shit when he wanted to be, which was actually pretty often.

Luhan groaned. "I don't know."

"Did he say anything to you before he left?" asked Chanyeol, who was looking around the party members with twice the amount of suspicion, his brows furrowed double from the strain. Luhan was already dreading the interrogation Kris probably had in store for him. If Chanyeol was overt in his questions, Kris was more subtle and privately direct. 

"Just that he needed to check something out," Luhan lied. Sehun thankfully looked too tongue-tied to either confirm or deny it. 

Baekhyun hummed, eyes to the tree line. "Do you think..." his voice drifted off. Luhan chewed on his lower lip, begging them to not ask if it had something to do with the shadowed creature, because the more time that passed the more he wished he hadn't let Xiumin stay behind. "I could scout the area..." Again Baekhyun trailed off, halting completely when Luhan snapped. 

"I think we need to just go. He can... he can catch up with us later, perhaps."

Because he had already done so, the second he woke up cold and alone. It was the first morning in weeks that he hadn't slept with Xiumin by his side, and that was chilling. So was the fact there wasn't a trace of him to be found anywhere within the forested area where they had stood.

What was it Xiumin had said to him the night before, before he strode after Sehun towards the forest.  _'My dream, it has something to do with... him.'_

_'Sehun?'_ Luhan had asked.

_'No. Yes. Somewhat. But the other one... the gray one. He's something... There's something strange going on here, I think more than the others are aware of. I need... I need to know if...'_ But he'd been so distracted, not finishing his sentence.

And what was it the note had said, a flimsy piece of torn parchment tucked into Luhan's boot?  _Please trust me. I'll catch up_. He must have added it there sometime after Luhan fell asleep, although he'd tried so hard not to close his eyes.

Luhan didn't know the mage's handwriting. He'd had no reason to see it before, because Xiumin had never written anything in his presence. Until now, perhaps. Trust Xiumin? Trust the apostate? He didn't even hesitate because up till now, everything he'd done since the time Xiumin saved him from the bandit mage had been because he trusted him. Against every templar instinct and his entire training, everything the Chantry had drilled into his brain about the evils of magic and the danger of apostate mages, Luhan trusted Xiumin. So now, who knew what his fate would be, or if his doom awaited instead. 

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Luhan insisted that they should move on, knowing it was the right decision to make regardless. The gray creature wasn't the only one following them, stealing their party members. Sehun was still in danger, and they had a journey to complete. Jongin needed his support to help protect the party and losing his mage had little to do with that. 

"No doggie either, huh?" said Baekhyun after a while, because Alistair wasn't here either and that made it even more sad.

They packed up and set off, Sehun riding once more, and he was so hushed and sullen that not even Suho's words could reach him. The dwarf had taken to riding on the mule just so that he could keep up. He trailed along behind Sehun's shoulder, prodding him every now and then with small talk, none of which was reciprocated. Luhan thought about showing Sehun the note but he wasn't given enough time to take the boy aside, and so it remained inside his boot where he'd found it, where he would no doubt pull it out later to double-check he was reading it right. Or to persuade himself that Xiumin would probably okay.

"Luhan... are you... still planning to come with us to Haven?" Jongin pulled him from his thoughts. It was mid-morning and they'd already been traveling for hours.

"Yes," he said. Because Xiumin knew of Haven, and how else would he catch up if Luhan didn't go that way.

"Haven!?" someone else repeated though, surprised. It was Jongdae. "Why on earth are we going to Haven?"

Luhan had forgotten most of the others did not know of their planned detour. It took Jongin some time to explain, but it had to be done soon because their cut-off route was approaching. Surprisingly, most of them agreed, even Chanyeol and Baekhyun.

"Actually, I was thinking it would be a good idea to get off of this road for a while," said the scout. "If anybody is following us too closely, they'll know we are heading north."

"To veer off west for a bit is actually... smart," Chanyeol agreed. 

Suho nodded as well, and only Jongdae seemed to think it was odd to go so far out of their way when by every thing Jongin had mentioned about Sehun's aunt's house, it was no more than two days away. 

"You know, you're welcome to keep going north if you dislike our route," Baekhyun said to the assassin who only scoffed and looked displeased with the suggestion. 

"By myself? And leave your magnanimous company?" He winked at Baekhyun, threw a cheeky grin at Suho, and even tried to pat Chanyeol's butt before the taller warrior scowled and scampered out of the line of attack. Everyone was used to it, all except for Kris, but the qunari was by now well used to how nobody thought it pertinent to keep him abreast of certain facts, like why they turned a blind eye to an assassin traveling with their party. Truthfully, Luhan still didn't know why. Jongdae had apparently a strong desire to keep up with them, he aided them whenever possible, and none of them had yet died by his hand, quite a feat considering his training and profession. There was also the matter with the templars in Redcliffe in which he'd helped Luhan, but that was something Luhan tried not to dwell on too long--that he was, in fact, indebted to the man. 

By early evening, Baekhyun located the split in the road as they made the turn towards Haven. The path was narrower, obviously less travelled. It seemed ominous, but then everything seemed that way after Xiumin's disappearance. Baekhyun kept checking the path behind them more often than ahead, Jongin was distracted, Sehun still taciturn. 

Chanyeol tried one more time to ask Luhan if he knew anything else about the mage or if he thought Xiumin had finally just run off, and Luhan snapped at him so loudly, Jongdae actually applauded.

They made their camp that evening under a particularly close crop of trees so dense that there was no place to light a fire. In the pitch darkness, Jongin made up his pallet next to Luhan, even cutting off Sehun who slept besides Suho. Baekhyun retaliated by drawing up his mat next to the qunari, and Jongdae and Chanyeol took first watch. 

He slept fitfully of course. Jongin wasn't nearly as comfortable to lay beside, and in fact Luhan ended up rolling further away from the man's unfamiliar form. He dreamed, but not about anything of consequence. Just a tale, a vague memory from his childhood in Nevarra which morphed into the first images of his new life in the Circle Tower. When he awoke though, the Knight-Commander's scary face in his brain, thoughts of Xiumin trailing not too far behind, it wasn't to anything happier. In fact, it wasn't even daylight yet. 

"W-What?" he yawned, as Jongin steadily shook his arm in a panic.

"Get up, now!"

"Huhh? Is it... what is it?" His sentiments were being shared around the party, but if he hoped it was the return of the mage setting people awake, he was soon to be sorely disappointed, and twice as scared.

"It's a dragon! Kris just heard a dragon! Now, get up!  _Now!_ " 

 


	16. No Real Haven

"What do you mean you  _heard_  a dragon?" Jongin asked for perhaps the tenth time. He rubbed his eyes and adjusted his clothes. Beside him, Luhan and the others did likewise. All except for the qunari who appeared confused now that everyone was up.

"Yeah, Kris, where is it?" asked Baekhyun.

The whole camp was awake and grumpy, eyes to the sky as they tried to make out the sight of... anything, really.

"I thought I heard..." Now that they were all awake, Kris' story was already starting to lose enthusiasm, even from himself.

"You just  _thought_  you heard a dragon? So you don't actually know if you heard one or not?" Baekhyun had lost all patience. They'd been awake ten minutes in full dress and armor, swords and shields out praying to Andraste that would be enough to fight off a dragon, all for... an incorrect hunch from the qunari who'd been on watch and woken them all up. Even Jongdae didn't have the patience for this. Before he could put on a full interrogation though, and he looked sleepy enough to maybe pull out his little friends to assist him, Jongin stepped in between the two of them. 

"Is it possible you misheard? Maybe it was just a bird or another animal?"

Luhan stepped up too, however, even as the large qunari visibly panicked, because he genuinely felt he was warning them of an imminent attack and now there was nothing. "Kris, you said you heard a dragon before on the other Imperial Highway. Was it around here? Did you actually see one yourself?

The answer to that turned out to be, yes, he'd heard one but no, he'd not seen one in person. Baekhyun sat down in disgust, probably intending to sleep away the remaining hour before sunrise and at this point, no one would blame him. Only Suho seemed to share the sentiment that perhaps it wan't a false alarm, and the dragon had just flown off. 

"But it sounded close!" Kris insisted, still lugging his two-handed sword across his back like it might be called into use at any moment.

"Maybe it could return?" Suho added, voice warbling with trepidation. Luhan realized the dwarf was actually quite frightened by the possibility, and it occurred to him that Suho as well had probably traveled this road before, and recently too, if the Carta's trade network to and from Orzammar was as extensive as he suspected. However, the dwarf had nothing to report either, and his answers reflected nothing other than vague fear. Rumors of this or that cult, but nothing concrete. Jongdae sidled up beside him and rested an elbow on his head. Fear was instantly replaced by frustration as he shook off the man's arm and scrambled away.

Like most of the times, Sehun remained silent, and Jongin didn't know if that was because he too was afraid or if his stoic nature just took precedence over everything else. All day he'd sulked because of Xiumin's disappearance and when nightfall came and still there was no sight of the mage. Luhan had caught both Jongin and Chanyeol pondering the boy's expression more often than night, like they suspected he knew more than he was saying. They probably suspected Luhan too, but he tried to act innocent in his apparent loss.

The others taunted him on the loss of his prisoner. He shrugged off their concerns and at the same time tried hard to pretend he was upset when really he just felt... nothing. He wouldn't feel anything probably until Xiumin came back. Like Sehun he was just kind of waiting optimistically. Being woken unexpectedly to Kris fussing over a supposed dragon was actually a really good distraction. The templar relaxed the quickest of all the party members, remaining calm even while the others now turned to taunting the qunari for being terrified of the skies.

"So, this dragon, was it large? Flying? What were the color of its wings? Its scales?" Jongdae pretended to wait Kris' answers like it was indeed important, brows furrowed, lips thin and it actually made Luhan want to laugh.

Kris continued to stutter over and over again and admit he hadn't  _seen_ it. He's only  _heard_ of it. And apparently heard it some minutes before they awoke. 

"So, basically there's no dragon," said Baekhyun, arms crossed even as he sat on the ground and looking completely unimpressed. "Well, if that's the case then we might as well pack up and get an early start. Unless anyone wants to sleep some more, but since we're all awake anyways!"

He smirked at Jongin, gained the warrior's approval, and they were ready to head off in less than fifteen minutes. 

For most of them it was unexplored territory. Haven had been a reclusive community, even in its supposed heyday. Situated on the western edge of Ferelden and hidden in the shadow of the Frostbacks, it was rarely frequented by visitors, outsiders. Only a few years ago had Luhan even heard of the place, heard tales of The Cult of Andraste, the entire set of villagers devoted for generations to the heretical notion that Andraste was not dead, but that she had instead been reborn as a... dragon.

If Luhan was a suspicious man, and also not a devout follower of the real faith of Andrastian worship, he might have entertained such a thought that the dragon Kris had heard... but that was a little far-fetched. Dragons were rare creatures, and if the cultists had indeed worshipped one, it was probably represented by the statue of an engraved idol, or else a mere notion. Besides, the cult was gone, decimated by the Hero of Ferelden in his/her quest to end the Blight. If the Chantry had told Jongin correctly, nobody should inhabit the town, although it would be a great hiding spot for a bandit camp.

And a rogue apostate, according to Jongdae's intelligence, if that was true.

The path to Haven was a slower one than the Imperial Highway though. Narrow, more and more trees hiding the road, the sunlight blocked from view even after it should have been high in the sky. Luhan knew there were mountains close by but they couldn't been seen from here, and the entire forest took on a damp, unsettling atmosphere. The mule Suho rode shied more than once at the screech of unseen wild animals, none of which came close, but eventually he had to get off and walk in order to calm the animal that way, and Sehun too, after almost taking a tumble from their horse, dismounted and lead the beast by the harness.

"This path isn't creepy at all," said Baekhyun once.

"Quite the little cross-country jaunt," said Jongdae.

A bird squawked from somewhere in the trees, and Chanyeol jumped, nearly falling into Luhan, who dodged quickly while holding out an arm to steady the warrior.

"Thanks." Chanyeol quickly dislodged himself, and pretending he'd never been startled, he took to muttering about how he wished he'd updated his requisitions lists back in Redcliffe because he was sure within some of these plans they were brushing past, there must be some rare and uncommon herbs.

"Give it up," Baekhyun said to him. "No one has time to stop and smell the blood lotus. I sort of feel like we ought to reach Haven before nightfall."

Jongin frowned. "We should though, if this path is correct, and I'm certain it is."

Baekhyun hummed. "I didn't mean we wouldn't get there in the allotted time, I mean we should get there because... because, at least in the village there might be some shelter."

"You are worried about something?" asked Jongdae. Both Suho and Sehun looked suddenly towards the elf, startled by Jongdae's question.

"Am I? I don't know. Just like to be cautious you know."

"And what if we find anyone in Haven?" the assassin continued.

"Like who?" Chanyeol asked.

Luhan and Jongin both exchanged glances. Bandits? Outlaws? A trace of the old cultists? How about that apostate that Jongdae was evidently hinting at already. And what if was a whole den of them?

Luhan wished suddenly that Xiumin would catch up sooner rather than later. Against magic users he had never been unconfident, but without an ally of their own, Luhan felt that much more exposed.

"I miss the dog," said Chanyeol glumly.

"Me too, actually," quipped Jongdae. "He was quite a mouth-breather, but still more silent than the rest of some of you. And even smelled better!"

Everyone in the party swiveled their heads to glare at him, even the dwarf who seemed to bristle and take it more personally than the rest.

"Oh, I didn't mean you of course!" cried Jongdae playfully, although Suho refused to acknowledge the 'correction' to his words. Jongdae smiled and chuckled. Sehun grimaced, ruffling his own hair. He froze when a few dead leaves caught between his fingertips and even Kris laughed when he tried discretely to remove them.

"Says the man with horns on his head," the boy actually muttered. Luhan raised his eyebrows, looking at Sehun with newfound approval.

Around noon of course, Kris swore suddenly that he'd heard something. And by something he meant the dragon, again. That was evident by his alertness, head tipped back as he stared through the treetops.

"I didn't hear anything," said Baekhyun. The elf's ears, however, were on full alert too as he tried to make sense of anything. Anything at all.

Now that everyone was riled up again, Jongin tried to be assertive. "Kris, are you certain there's a dragon?"

He didn't answer right away, cause to disbelieve him, although of course there was that itch in the back of Luhan's mind that said he couldn't be sure either.

"So... nobody heard that? I mean, I think it was far away but, now I'm not sure."

Baekhyun smirked, but he smiled sympathetically and patted the giant on his forearm, one of the only places he could reach. "There there. If we find a dragon ever, then we'll know. In the meantime, come on. I think we're probably close."

Close, according to Baekhyun meant another two hours. Finally though they stumbled out of the forest, cautiously because who knew what they would find. Jongin took the lead and each hastened behind him as silently as they could, no one speaking. They found a sloped path leading down towards a small lake with a partially destroyed dock, but they by-stepped it quickly. The town itself was barren, just as they'd been lead to believe.

"This place... wow."

A ghost town, and each of them shivered. Some houses still remained, others had burned, hollow shells with a few walls still standing. 

"You don't think... all of us need to explore this, right?" Chanyeol questioned before they could broach the the village where the hint of a fence remained. He immediately deflected his statement. "I mean, you really want to take Sehun into this? It looks haunted. Could be a trap even."

"A trap for who?" asked Suho, looking nervous. His hand hovered close to the hilt of the mace he'd been learning how to use but still wasn't overly confident about.

"I can fight. I'm no baby," said Sehun.

Jongin frowned, but he nodded all the same. "You're right, Sehun, but we should really split up. Chanyeol, you and Luhan, Sehun and Kris take the right fork, see if there's anything to be found around the back side of the homes. The rest of us will go down the center and see what we come up with. If nothing, we all meet at the ridge of that hill and go no further until we've assessed. Alright?"

Only Jongdae half-heartedly complained about being told what to do, but his grumbling put no halt on his actions. He followed Jongin willingly at this juncture, for lack of anything better to do.

"Right," said Luhan. "See you on the other side of the village."

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun really didn't like this place. "You know, Jongin, I know I said it was good to take a short detour, but this town, really? Why on earth can't the Chantry send some of their own to explore it?"

"You mean like the templars? Well, we have one of those too."

Baekhyun scoffed. "Luhan's just wasting time out here." He had more words to say probably, but the deserted village of Haven made him nervous. He'd seen places like this before, elven homesteads going to ruin, their inhabitants long run off. So many places in the world where one force of people had driven out another. Haven might not have included any elves, but people were people, and if a cult had lived and thrived here, those were souls too. How may ghosts were here, hiding in the shadows? 

And also, what kind of magic had they known? The place reeked of something, Baekhyun could sense it. Blood lust, or perhaps a skill tree even more heinous. In the entryway of one of the houses he entered, there was the remnant of an alter, table in ruin, cloths burned away, but a few bones littered the ground, including a human scull. Beneath the burned out wood, the flood was stained a dark kind of red, either from the person who had died here or from something else entirely.

"Reavers," said Jongdae, out of the blue.

"What?" Jongin turned to him in question. Baekhyun did not turn around, because the moment the assassin mentioned it, Baekhyun knew it made sense.

"These people were reavers."

"How do you know?" Jongin asked.

It was Baekhyun who responded though, pointing at the altar and at the ground, not asking out loud if Jongdae guessed it by the same symbols or if he knew more about Haven than he was letting on.

"It'll take a lot of work if someone the Chantry wants to reinhabit this town," said Baekhyun. "But there's absolutely nothing in the village here. I suggest we round this up and get up to that old Chantry temple. If anyone's moving back here, that's the first place they'll want to go."

"Yeah, and also the place where outlaws would hide," Jongdae added.

Suho shivered, and despite the others not carrying their weapons yet in their hands, Suho had out his mace, prepared for anything.

They made their way around a few other homes but found nothing dissimilar, and from afar they spotted the others scoping out the other side of the village with nothing exciting happening there either.

"So, this dragon," Jongdae inquired after a few more minutes of silent searching.

"What about it?"

"Do you think it's real? Kris seemed convinced."

Jongin was about to say no, but Baekhyun interrupted him, even surprising himself. "I wouldn't be too surprised actually, if there is one."

"What?"

"What!" cried the others.

"But, you said there wasn't one..." Suho's voice trembled again.

"I did, but you never know, really. This is the Frostbacks we're talking about here. Who knows what's beyond those mountain peaks."

"Have you ever seen one?" Jongin asked.

Baekhyun smiled. "Maybe..."

"Maybe?!" Suho cried once more. "Here? Here in Ferelden?"

Again he just smiled. " _Maybe._ "

 

 

 

 

They met up with the other half of their party on the other edge of town, neither groups having discovered anything worthwhile other than that the town was a mess from when it was last inhabited, remnants of a grotesque  battle, and that it had since been looted many times over. The most interesting things of value were the rare herbs and mushrooms that seemed to have blossomed in the absence of regular traffics of people, half of which Chanyeol had stopped to harvest, almost to the point of being kicked in the shins by both Luhan and Sehun because he kept holding them up. Unnerved, he'd tucked his prizes into a satchel, promised to show them to Jongin later to show how useful they were, and that was the end of it. 

They stood facing a hilltop then, one lone structure there, what used to be the old Chantry temple which the residents had perverted and desecrated. 

"They even had a male priest," Luhan confided to the party, and Jongin shivered because such a thing was quite unheard of.

"Worshipped a dragon, lead by a man," Baekhyun intoned dramatically, before he giggled. "How positively  _awful._.." 

"We should investigate," said Jongin quickly, before the elf could say anything else heretical. Jongin might have a healthy obsession with using Andraste's name in vain, paired with various articles, but standing in the midst of a village whose inhabitants had gone so far astray made his bones tingle. Dragon worship paired with skillfully encouraged blood lust, and this was not a place he wanted to be. In fact, he already regretted taking the Chantry's coin to go on this mission, but since he had agreed, he refused to abandon the quest now. He was a completist like that. Protect Sehun and get him to his aunt's home, and help out the Chantry as well, those were the focal points in his life right now, until either or were completed and he could check them off. 

They ascended the fortress-like temple building several to a row, Jongin and Luhan in front with their shields out, Jongdae on the end. Behind them walked Kris and Chanyeol, Sehun in between and Suho making up the rear. Baekhyun disappeared halfway up the hill, to find a good vantage point, he'd said, in order to scout or protect them from the rear. Jongin watched him go covertly, almost swearing he caught the elf vanishing as he swept behind a tree. 

The front door to the temple was shut, but unbarred. Jongin opened it with one heavy kick from his boot, dust scattering from its ridges and settling into the space beyond. Luhan moved in first, Jongdae right behind him, the rest in a line, and Jongin made sure they were all in without incident before he checked behind them, and then entered himself.

He wasn't sure what to expect here. Other than Luhan's note about a possible apostate, there could also be bandits, or there could be none at all. At first glance it seemed to be the latter. The insides of the temple were dark, and the smell rather dank. A single stray of light played against the scene from a hole in the wall all the way across the nave, and that coupled with with the light from the entry way proved that indeed there wasn't a single person on the main floor. 

"Check the corners, any rooms off to the side. See if there are stairs leading to a basement," Jongin instructed them. Everybody but Sehun moved to spread out, the boy calmly paralyzed with his two training daggers wobbling within each hand.

"You can relax probably," Jongin tried to assure him. "I think this place is good and abandoned."

"A-are you sure?" 

"Probably," he echoed with a shrug, watching as most of the members regrouped, all except for Chanyeol who was casually shouting out reports of there being a dungeon down below. Even Suho had put his mace back into the harness across the back, when Chanyeol returned with a frown across his brow, lips opened as if to speak. 

"There's-"

But then Baekhyun appeared against the temple doorway, whispering harshly, "Bandits approaching!" before rushing into the temple as well, every one of them now trapped inside. 

All of them scurried into action, taking up defensive positions as Baekhyun warned of at least half a dozen humans, one of which had seen him, and therefore they were rushing to attack. 

"Let them come!" Jongdae sang happily as he drew forth his little friends. 

"Any mages?" Luhan asked, running opposite the doorway from Jongin so they could take on the first intruders who came through the door. 

"Nope!" Baekhyun replied. "All normal. Big hairy men, long swords, probably unwashed."

"As long as they're not leading in a dragon as well, I think we can handle this!" Chanyeol roared, just as the bandits yelled taunts from the outside. 

It was a surprisingly short battle. Regrettably, the first two bandits died horribly because they charged right in like human battering rams, and once behind the line of the two shield warriors, it only took one lash from Kris's greatsword to break them in two, literally; the other four, realizing they were outnumbered took off the way they had come in a ridiculously fast manner. It was all very, anti-climatic. Except that Kris was covered in blood and Suho, on accident, was also splattered. 

"Is that it?!" Jongdae in particular was disappointed. "And here I was all geared up for a fight."

Sehun hadn't even come out from behind Jongin's back. Chanyeol meanwhile chased the remaining bandits halfway down the hill until it seemed guaranteed they wouldn't come back. Baekhyun fired off one air just for good measure, and then they returned. Luhan hadn't even dirtied his sword. Suho was still grimacing to himself, too disgusted to even wipe his face. Jongdae held out his sleeve before the dwarf's face, as if that was an acceptable option. He snickered though, and Suho brushed past him in search of a cloth from his own bag of supplies. 

"Sorry," Kris muttered sheepishly at Suho shaking his head. 

Jongdae recovered from his disappointment fast. "Why be sorry? Two bandits are dead, and hey... look at the coin they carry! Who wants some gold pieces, come on. Suho? Need some gold? You can buy a new tunic the next time we run into a merchant. Else I can just give you mine." 

"I'm good, thanks."

The assassin smirked, then assisted Chanyeol and Luhan to drag the two dead bodies outside the temple. "Good riddance," said Chanyeol. "We can burn them later. In the meantime..."

Jongin finally remembered that before Baekhyun's warning, Chanyeol had been about to say something. When pressed though, the taller warrior frowned, confused, citing that he'd found a bedroll down in the dungeon but only one, like someone had been living down there even. Probably not a camp of bandits either. 

"And it seemed like this was recent?" Luhan asked, already stalking towards the staircase down to investigate. 

"Yes. There's even some foodstocks down there, unspoiled too." 

Baekhyun and Suho kept watch while the others ventured down, Luhan leading the way down the damp stone staircase, muttering how he wished they had a lantern or a torch. Their bodies cast shadows from the dull light from the main floor, and Jongin nearly ran into Luhan's back, the templar almost stopping completely when it grew too dark. Then they noticed how their shadows suddenly loomed in the other way, lit from below. Chanyeol had failed to mention there was light down here, a soft blue glow, unnaturally made. 

"Veilfire," Luhan whispered, stunned into a trance, before he gestured wildly to the cold, bluish rays. 

"What's veilfire?" Sehun echoed from behind him.

"Magic..." It was Jongdae who answered. 

Luhan charged forward, hitting the ground step with his shield raised, sword still hooked to this side, but his palm out instead, seeking the mage who must have lit the veilfire. Two of the bluish torches lined one wall of the dungeon, another one in a corner opposite right above the bedroll Chanyeol had already noticed. But there was no one here.

"It's a mage for sure though," said the templar, and by his look, Jongin was sure this was the apostate Luhan said might be here, which could mean anything. A local hideout, a temporary home. Or a trap. The veilfire flickered as one, as a cold air swept across the dungeon, an ominous sign that made Jongin's blood run cold.

"Everybody out now!" he ordered without fail.

Sehun was the first one to move, so startled that he tripped over his own feet, and he dropped one of his daggers which skidded across the stone floor. Luhan suddenly gasped. "Sehun, leave it!" But the boy was already moving towards his lost weapon, one knee hitting the ground, dirt scattering from the impact. Halfway into his reach, however, is when he crossed the line. Jongin saw it just as Sehun did, a faintly drawn circle that glowed against the ground. A rune. A trap. 

It set off the moment Sehun touched it, a blast of green like a million spirits rising from the earth. They rose and swarmed, a whirlwind storm that captured the boy within its midst, body convulsing as he was thrown on his back, head whipped back, body arching as he screamed and wailed. Luhan dropped his shield and rushed toward the circle, palms held out as if trying to calm the storm, tempering it with an anti-magic spell. 

"Luhan, can you stop it?"

"Can you get him out?!" 

Chanyeol was already inching towards the boy in the storm, Kris by his side. Even Baekhyun was flying down the stairs, Suho behind him, both panicked from the sound of the blast, and when the dwarf flew past the warriors in fright, Jongdae held him back. 

"I c-can't!" Luhan cried, face contorting, but for all his concentration the spirit whirl did not end. Sehun continued to writhe inside, tears streaming down his face and Jongin was just about to throw everything to the wind and dive in after him... when another blast crashed over their heads, initiated from behind them, and the spell came to an end.

Half of them rushed towards Sehun; the others twirled around. In a corner where no one had stood, there was now a man. A mage with a stern face, pale blond hair, cautious smile, and his arms up by his head. The surrendering posture was the only thing that saved him from an imminent counterattack. Luhan nearly tackled him. Kris actually did. He smacked into the mage's side, wrapping the man's arms behind his back, and the second reason the mage didn't die a horrific death from a dull bludgeoning was because Jongdae was still holding back the dwarf. 

"Everyone stop," Luhan cautioned. Baekhyun was cradling Sehun along the ground, the boy breathing shallowly but he was alive, tears streaking down his face. The mage wasn't squirming either, waiting judgment. 

"Luhan, what is it?" Jongin asked, weapon still raised.

"He stopped it. He's the one who broke it."

"What, the spell?"

"Yes," Luhan replied. The mage glanced slyly between them both, Kris' arms already loosening from around him. Next to the qunari, he looked like a doll, delicately fierce, and but with the glimmer of a smile, one shy dimple appearing upon his cheek. 

"I'm sorry," the mage finally spoke. "I wasn't expecting... visitors today." 

 


	17. Spirit Mage

"My name is Yixing," the mage finally introduced himself, once Kris had let him go. No one approached him closely, and in fact everyone apart from Kris stood well away. He was an elf; Jongin saw that now. Defined tapered ears emerging past his short blond hair. But he was also something else.

"Are you an apostate?" Luhan asked coldly.

"Why, are you a templar?" The response was lightning quick. A rhetorical question, because Luhan's red and golden robes and the symbol etched on upon his armor were a dead giveaway. 

Luhan didn't need to respond. Baekhyun, however, did. "What was that spell? Will Sehun be alright?" He looked about as pissed as a firecracker, bristling unnecessarily because Yixing only chuckled.

"Just a spirit ward. Not even that powerful. I put it there only to dissuade bandits from finding my stash. He'll have some nightmares in the future, but that's about it. Sorry," he added with a casual smile. 

Once Sehun was finally able to stand up, he glared at the mage but did no more than cough, wipe his tears and fetch his fallen dagger, the cause of everything in the first place. 

"Your stash?" Jongdae's eyes lit up, just as Yixing's narrowed. 

"Well, we're not bandits," said Jongin decisively. He could tell the mage wanted to question him on it, but he said no more. He watched Luhan instead, checking the templar's reaction when he too bent towards the ground, retrieving his fallen staff, a magnificent creation Luhan thought Xiumin would be jealous of. Luhan suddenly missed the mage more than he thought possible, craving his company, craving even the dog's company. Wondering where they were and if he'd actually meet them in Haven, if at all. As a gesture of goodwill, Luhan let Yixing handle the weapon, keeping one eye on him all the while. 

"So you're just... traveling?" Yixing asked. 

"Yes," said Jongin. 

"Through an uninhabited, desecrated town in the middle of nowhere and quite far off the Imperial Highway?" Yixing's eyebrows were raised. "Quite the little jaunt."

"See, that's exactly what I said!" Jongdae cried mirthfully. Chanyeol hushed him with a hiss, and the whole thing made Yixing look between them very, very curiously.

"You have the look of a rag-tag party of warriors, mercenaries, and civilians. No ordinary  _jaunt_ , I think. But regardless, welcome to my home, for now. Stay the night. Shall we share a meal? Tell me  _all_ the news of Ferelden. I've been dying for some non-familiar company." He smiled cheekily, gesturing around the room like it was a grand palace.

"N-non-familiar?" Suho questioned him nervously.

A puff of green smoke shot up from the stone nearest the dwarf's feet, and while Suho squawked and jumped back a step, it was only a bunny on the ground, squinching up its nose anxiously with everyone's eyes upon it. 

"My familiar," Yixing offered up. "Keeps me company. Doesn't speak all that often. Is terrified of other animals. Pity, really, because these mountains are teeming with wildlife. Foxes, wolves, bears, a dragon... so they say... so these people here once used to say..." 

It was obvious he meant to frighten them, as if the bunny was bait, the dragon the switch. 

"Did you know the cultists?" Jongin asked.

Yixing shrugged, and his bunny familiar hopped past the dwarf's startled feet and settled instead around the trim of the mage's robes dirty bluish robes. "Who around these parts has not heard of them? But they are gone, as you're no doubt aware. I myself... am just stopping by for a while."

"What for?" Luhan demanded nervously.

The mage continued to smile, overly sweet and polite. "Are questions the only thing you people know how to word? How about an introduction? You know my name at least. Tell me yours? Also, if you let me, I have some herbs which may quieten the boy's nightmares. And also keep him from having any while he's still awake."

Sehun was in fact looking a bit green around the face, sweat dampening his brow, his eyes glassy. Probably about to vomit any minute now, and as Jongin observed him sadly, Sehun did just that. He made it to the far side of one wall opposite the party members and puked out everything in his guts. Only Suho had the stomach to approach him afterwards and help him get cleaned up. 

"Walking nightmare, huh?" Luhan said to the mage, referring to a spell Jongin had only heard of, whispered by some soldiers back in West Hills to the children they wished to frighten. "You're a spirit mage, then?"

"In a manner of speaking." It was all he would say. At least it wasn't blood magic. 

Nervously, Jongin took it upon himself to introduce all of their names, starting with himself and ending with Luhan, and when he looked around as if remembering there used to be more of them, Yixing glanced around too. Jongin refused to tell him what their actual agenda was, but the mage did not press him, just as he volunteered nothing of himself either. It was quiet sort of truce, everyone on edge but no longer in showdown. Baekhyun and Chanyeol especially softened towards Yixing when the mage's herbs seemed to definitely aid Sehun which, under Luhan's cautious gaze, Yixing ground and served him. The fact that he was an elf like Baekhyun, and that Baekhyun did not seem particularly frightened of him, also calmed a bit of Jongin's tension. 

With dusk fast approaching, Yixing lead them out of the temple and down a short path which lead back to the lake, and there they cleaned themselves off in shifts. Luhan held back to stand with the mage, and so Jongin lead the rest of them alone. He chucked his armor and tunic on the ground and waded out into the water. On the other side of the dock the dwarf could be heard sighing deeply as he finally shed his clothes to rinse them roughly in the waters, Jongdae laughing at him, and Kris still trying to apologize. Chanyeol squatted by himself on the dock keeping watch next to Sehun who still had an ick factor with still waters. The boy was only dangling his legs, still looking a bit sickly, when Jongin turned away, surprised by the splash of Baekhyun diving naked off the dock.

The waters around Jongin rippled chaotically as the elf submerged and then popped up with a shaky toss of his head, feet finding the mucky, uneven bottom as he waded nearer to the warrior.

"Bathing with your pants on again?" Flecks of water off Baekhyun's hair caught Jongin in the face as he grimaced. 

He didn't respond, only rushed the process because the water was cold and the elf unnerving, almost not noticing the next words Baekhyun spoke to him, although these were more practical. 

"What do you think about Yixing? Do we believe his story, or not?"

Jongin ducked under the water once more to rinse out his hair, and then peeked over his shoulder where the mage was still standing beside Luhan, the templar with his arms crossed solidly across his chest, a frown on his face. Both were out of hearing distance when Jongin admitted, "There's no story to believe  _or_  disbelieve. We're just lucky he broke the spell before something worse happened to Sehun."

"Hmmm," Baekhyun muttered, creating more ripples in the water. "Suppose so. Although I really don't like this place. Why would anyone hang out here for fun? Huh? And all by himself too? What kind of person ventures so far all on their own? I mean, I've done some solo traveling but it's not fun. Not fun at all-"

"Where have you been then?" Jongin cut him off. 

Baekhyun froze, mid wash with his arm in the air as he tried to reach behind his shoulder blades. "What? Me? Oh... around. Much safer though to travel in groups. Company's better too." The elf sent him a warm gesture, laced with his own brand of humorous self-awareness, and Jongin turned around in order not to blush. Baekhyun had a slight, dainty body, but lean too, and muscled. Part of that was a product of his race, but a good part because the elf was active and skilled at what he did, namely trekking long distances on foot and being more than handy with his bow and arrow. It wouldn't do to dwell on his other attributes though, the ones Jongin thought of during lone night watches. Baekhyun was, for all that he'd considered the Denerim Alienage his most recent, temporary home, a mercenary. He may not use that that title like Kris did, but the elf was definitely the type to move around wherever he pleased. And Jongin hadn't even asked what he'd done before he was recommended to Sehun's grandfather's service, to be part of Sehun's escort across Ferelden.

"I've been here and there. Wherever looks fun. Getting into trouble." Baekhyun grinned after a while.

And yes, that's just what Jongin had thought. He turned around and hauled himself back onto dry land, avoiding the mud and oblivious (mostly) to the way his dampened pants probably clung to his legs in full view of the elf. It was a better alternative to staying around and waiting for the elf to ascend instead. 

"Hey!" Baekhyun called out after him. "You're done already? And here I was going to ask if you could wash my back!" Jongin heard but did not turn to see the elf huffing self-righteously, playfully. "Anyways, never mind. I can get it myself. Maybe!" 

 

 

 

 

Watching the others bathe and rest, Luhan was the only one still basically unnerved. Yixing was now the second apostate he'd come across, and far from even trying to apprehend him, here he was actually conversing casually with him. Yixing, obviously amused, chatted to like him a friend. It was deceptive, even if the information he shared - the landscape whereabouts, what kinds of wild herbs Yixing liked to harvest, how cold the winter nights would be in a few months time - was all good to know. But Yixing talked like he planned to spend a long time here in these parts, which was a sly warning to Luhan that Yixing planned on doing anything  _but_. 

"You haven't told me much about yourself, templar." Yixing too crossed his arms, the sleeves of his robes hanging heavily across his torso. The mage was definitely shorter than him, but his stance and posture made Luhan feel very small. It did in a way, remind him of Xiumin. Perhaps apostates like them were all like this - raised tough, demonstrative. 

"What would you like to know?" Luhan thought maybe he could at least act like his life was an open book.

Yixing unfortunately called his bluff before he even tried. "Templars don't just travel without an entourage of their own. I'm already surprised to see a party such as yours out here, but what your deal is... that interests me."

"Maybe I'm apostate hunting?"

Yixing smirked. "Maybe you are. So what am I then? It's my experience with templars that you attack or arrest first, questions later. Are you on vacation or something?"

"Or something..." Luhan liked this answer, and so long as the mage seemed disposed to be friendly, he could live with this. 

They waited for the others to leave the lake, Yixing inviting them back to the ruined temple for the night, and Luhan couldn't help noticing everyone's sighs of relief that they'd have a roof over their heads, at least for one night. He wouldn't leave the mage alone though out of his sight, and luckily Yixing seemed to know this and he didn't object. 

They were the final two into the lake, sun already sinking behind the mountains with a dull cloudless sky left behind. The moon reflected off the water, rippling when the mage swam through it, and Luhan tread water right behind, his mind still a bit deadened except for his immediate surroundings. Two days without Xiumin, but no dragon attack. Instead a new apostate, and who knew what had become of Luhan and his templar pride. If anyone observed him now, they'd see just two people - strangers too - swimming at night. 

"Hey, I hope you don't mind water snakes!" Yixing called out, a taut grin stretched across his face.

"Of course I don't!"

Suddenly, even underwater reed felt like it might be encircling Luhan's ankles, although he did his best to ignore them. Rather believe Yixing was bluffing, than accept reality. That there were probably serpents beneath the water's edge. He ducked his head, turned his back for the first time on the apostate, and swam for shore. The sooner he was out of water, the better. He wanted the see the others again, make sure they were okay, check on Sehun, or double-check that Suho hadn't accidentally bludgeoned either Kris or Jongdae in self-righteous inner fury. He hoped nobody would hear a dragon tonight, so they could sleep. He did think he heard an animal though, off in the distance. A hound... or perhaps just a wolf. 

"Luhan, watch it." Yixing's voice echoed from behind him, closer than he'd previously thought. 

Luhan did not watch it. Instead, his ears trained on listening for the wolf, hoping it was a hound, he missed the very thing Yixing had been warning him about. 

"Snake! Watch out!" 

Luhan screeched just as he saw it, winding through the shore reeds and poised just to attack. His body reacted instinctively, flinging towards dry land. But one foot sunk instead into the shallow muck, and he landed no further away than where he'd started. It was only thanks to two strong arms around his waist, hauling him back, that he avoided being bitten on the face. 

His heart raced, body shuddering, lying on his side naked in the dirt. Silence all around them until he heard the hollow chuckle coming from the body behind him. One just as wet and nude as himself. 

"Oh, just a harmless water snake, sorry. Thought it might have been something different."

The offending serpent, no larger than the length of Luhan's forearm, looked almost as startled as he did, slithering away as fast as it had come. Frightened more probably by the templar's groan of frustration and subsequent  _giving up_  of life. A wolf howled in the distance, a real wolf now that Luhan listened properly, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Now that he was lying in dirt, he'd have to bathe again, which meant back in the water again, with a strange mage who wasn't Xiumin. 

He barely even got to the point of  _thinking_ of sitting up, however, when a familiar set of robes over familiar leather boots strode up and blocked his vision.

"Uhmm, well hello again," said a sweetly confused voice.

"Xiumin!" Luhan was up in a heartbeat, gathering his robes around his still filthy body even though that hadn't been his plan.

There was no sign of Alistair, nor of the gray one, but Xiumin in all his beauty was indeed back, just as he'd promised. This was not the way he expected to be found though, lying in another mage's arms.

"I see you replaced me rather quickly. I feel almost... disappointed." Xiumin smirked, a chuckle bubbling as Luhan quickly denied everything, anything, whatever Xiumin thought this actually was. Forgetting in his haste and embarrassment that the mage had probably seen the entire water snake fiasco. 

"It's... it's not... uhm."

He almost tripped in the muck again. Only Xiumin throwing out his arm to catch him kept Luhan from face-planting in the dirt. "Sure. Sure. Care to introduce me?" he teased. "Where are the others anyways? Somewhere in the village?"

"Yes. The temple. We... we found- well, we got here an hour ago and..." Luhan was conscious of the other mage behind him, listening in. "This is Yixing.

The spirit mage was already donning his robes when he stepped around Luhan to greet the other mage. "Xiumin, is it?" he held out a friendly hand, smiling politely, but his eyes danced even in the moonlight. Xiumin tensed for a half second though, eyes flitting over his apparent rival. 

"It is," he said, cooly refusing the offered hand. Then he stared again at Luhan. "Wasn't sure I'd catch up with you today, but it looks like our paths have aligned. And none too soon." He grinned, just as a wolf howled in the trees, cut short with a yelp. Luhan raised his eyebrows.

"Alistair?"

Xiumin shrugged. "Maybe. Shall we go see the others now? Or haven't you finished up here?" He flashed Yixing a curious smile which had Luhan blushing and feeling guilty once again. The other mage, however, took it in stride and offered to lead the way to the temple, after Luhan deigned he was clean enough to actually fasten his robes. Yixing waited patiently, the two mages staring down the other, and Luhan felt oddly like he was missing something here. He sat against a rock, shaking out a dirtied but dry sock before pulling it across his foot. He frowned though, glaring at the gaping hole stretching across his big toe, and Xiumin chuckled again. 

"Aww, looks like your sock as a hole in it."

Way to state the obvious, Luhan thought. Yixing only smirked curiously. 

"So, you two have been traveling together?"

Xiumin looked at him. "Isn't it obvious? I'm actually his prisoner. We're on a lovely little vacation together before he locks me up in the Circle Tower. Care to join us, apostate?"

"An apostate and a templar," said Yixing tightly. "Impressive." 

"It is, isn't it? Come on, Luhan. Maybe if you're especially nice to me I'll think about darning your socks as well." Just as Luhan thought he was about to be sweet though, he added, "Unless of course Alistair gets to them first. He does  _so love_ socks." 

 

 

 

 

The reunion wasn't anything special, except that Sehun seemed overjoyed. Everyone else, especially Jongdae was surprised to even see Luhan return with two mages instead of one. After hearing the story of the spirit trap and Sehun's potential lingering nightmares, Xiumin confirmed that the herbs Yixing had given him was indeed a good remedy. The boy still looked a bit sick, but he was quickly improving. Although in his excitement to see Xiumin, he looked around a little too much for somebody else... 

"No dog?" Chanyeol pouted, misinterpreting Sehun's concern.

"He's around," said the mage. "For some reason we were followed by a small band of wolves, so I believe he's taking care of the outliers. Oh, and did anybody hear a dragon last night? Because we did."

The room exploded with righteous indignation, Kris jumping up victorious. "I was right! I heard it! I heard it, and the rest of you didn't-"

"Okay, okay, quanari, we get it," Baekhyun sighed in annoyance. "You're the big guy. You heard it. Now can you let us eat? I've been so looking forward to sleeping on dry ground with a roof over my head and you're killing my buzz. Hey, Jongdae. You still hoarding that bottle of Wilhem's Special Brew you nicked back in Redcliffe? And don't give me that look. I saw you take it so you can't lie now."

 

 

 

 

 

Very late into the night, Kyungsoo crept cheerlessly through  the deserted village, the hound at his side. The ruined buildings cast almost no shadows with the moon so directly overhead, illuminating the shells of the homes and the rubble left inside. A light wind whipped across the lane, blowing the hood back from his face. He hastily dragged it back into place, concealing most of his face. Alistair growled at a small animal hiding behind some brush, until Kyungsoo shushed him and the dog whimpered instead. 

Haven. No special place on its own, but laced with magicks unused, left to spoil. It was no wonder the Chantry wished to reclaim the town, although they would be hard-pressed to truly do so. Everything about the place reeked of a sense of finality. If not now, then later. This place was destined to return to its origins, buried by nature, by the mountains above. 

He followed the sounds of life towards the abandoned temple above, the pulse of magic that had been his beacon for months. How simple it was to follow, how easy, trailing in the night, staying undercover in the day. Fearful to all who accidentally beheld him, deadly to those who would stop him. It prickled his conscious that Sehun was not afraid. Fascinated perhaps, but not afraid. That was good; that would make it easier to take what he yearned for, when the time came. The boy with pale spotless skin was no match for a creature like him, because he had no knowledge of the power Kyungsoo concealed.

The mage only suspected. Or maybe Xiumin really knew everything. How, Kyungsoo did not know, but as long as their paths were aligned, they were no danger to the other. It was almost a relief, to be noticed by someone so intelligent, someone so unlike the trio that had begun with Sehun originally, guarding his beacon, all strength and muscle and know-how, but no conception of what Kyungsoo was, what he possessed, or even what Sehun possessed. 

It was all progressing according to plan, and it wasn't even Kyungsoo's plan. He just knew how to follow the signs. 

"Come along, Alistair," he barked at the dog who was roaming at whim. Alistair quickly lowered its head, obedient to Kyungsoo's call, and together they strode up the hill. 

Two bodies stood outside the entryway of the temple, huddled in the shadows but whispering fiercely. They didn't even notice him coming.

"You still won't tell me what you're doing here?" said one to the other. Kyungsoo crouched behind a tree, a hand upon Alistair's back to still the animal as well. 

"It's none of your business, Yixing. My travels are my concern, and I have no reason to report to you anything-"

"You're with a templar," Yixing snapped. "A templar and who knows what other people- How can you even know to trust them? With your life? I've never seen you acting this careless before."

"Because you haven't been around to see. Anyways, I know what I'm doing, and Luhan I trust."

"And does he also trust you? Xiumin?  _Xiumin?_ Really? I'd flame that bastard alive if I could find him, but haven't you guessed how the templars might have found you?  _Xiumin?_!" 

Alistair whimpered, but Kyungsoo gripped his collar tighter to keep him silent. 

"I... I have my speculations," said the shorter mage, just a tiny bit more downcast than he'd appeared before. 

"Your speculations? If that's all you've got, then it's a wonder you aren't dead already."

"I'll be fine, Yixing. We're always on the move and Luhan, well... he won't turn me in." 

The second mage huffed, not at all impressed with Xiumin's defiance. "If a life of imprisonment in the Circle Tower is all you fear, then you may be in for a rougher haul than you think. My guesses are, you'd be safer under guard of the Chantry and their minions than out here in the world. And that's saying something.  _At least there you might only die once._ "

There was no keeping Alistair back now. The hound lifted itself off the ground and trudged softly towards the two mages. Their gazes shifted as one to see the animal, Xiumin first with a smile and then a frown when he followed Alistair's trail in reverse. Kyungsoo knew he was caught. Sideways he stepped past the tree line and approached the mages, one an elf, the other a human with a price upon his head, two apostates bound to the fringes of the world almost as much as he. 

"Who is that?" asked Yixing, his voice low and warning.

Xiumin sighed, making no move to attack or disarm him, although Yixing looked about ready to. "This is Kyungsoo. He's an ally, of sorts. For now."

"Kyungsoo?" Yixing repeated his name, just as Kyungsoo stood before them, sure that his hood and robes concealed his face. At a look from Xiumin, however, he slowly lifted his arms and drew the material away, staring at Yixing right into his eyes. It pleased him when the mage drew breath, an expression of mild horror when he recognized his power. "But... but he's... not... surely not...?"

 


	18. He Who Cried Dragon

The morning air flourished, the sun shown brightly. Birds chirped sweetly in the trees. "Ahh, and here we are. Everything back to normal." Baekhyun hummed and sighed and loudly exclaimed when they emerged from the abandoned temple. Everyone had, except for maybe one exception, slept long and well, cozy in the knowledge that animals wouldn't eat them in the night. The exception being Kris, who could still be heard fretting about dragons, mumbling under his breath as the party lugged on their packs and collected the horse and mule. Baekhyun fed each animal a spare root he'd found growing in the village the night before, and completely shrugged off the qunari's complaints. At this point, life seemed to be going a little too well that he almost welcomed a dragon if it would spice things up. 

And speaking of no one getting poisoned of cursed in almost twelve boring hours, Baekhyun was a little surprised to see their new friend and mage pulling out a rucksack of his own belongings too.

"Uhhh, are you... going somewhere too?" Jongin asked hesitantly, and it made Baekhyun laugh.

"Can't I?" asked Yixing with a charmingly false smile. Baekhyun liked him, if only because he thought the mage more than genuinely pleasant. Apostate mage with questionable loyalties aside. Yixing had a face that promised intrigue though, and intrigue was an exciting thing. He almost questioned the mage himself, but Jongdae interrupted him first. 

"If you're going somewhere, does that mean we can raid your stash?" The assassin smirked hopefully.

"You can try," said Yixing. "If you have several dozen lockpicks to spare, and protection against my spells."

"Don't do it," Luhan muttered. 

Jongdae hummed thoughtfully, even as Yixing shrugged and said, "In any case. I'm not just going  _anywhere_. I thought I'd come with you." 

"What?!" Only Xiumin seemed overly alarmed. It shocked Luhan, shocked even Baekhyun.

"Well it's obvious you all haven't yet reached your destination. Couldn't you do with another mage? Truthfully, I'm rather lonely living here and wouldn't mind an excursion. Plus, I'm a healer and I know some spells which are a whole lot more powerful than probably Xiumin owns. What do you think?" He addressed the question to everyone at large, but his eyes noticeably glanced between Jongin and Luhan, as if sizing up which of them was the real leader here. He conveniently passed up looking at Xiumin, to that mage's quiet fury.

Baekhyun decided to take the bait. "Hey, my shoulder's still a little sore from where I took an arrow. Think you could fix it?"

The result Baekhyun desired was actually quite nice - like he had a brand new arm - and it doubled as proof that Yixing might indeed come along. Jongin approved it when Xiumin did not vocally disagree, although Luhan was seen later whispering to Xiumin while glancing suspiciously at the other mage. Sehun almost refused to take his eyes off the stranger, when they weren't scouring the forest and trees. The rest were unopinionated, just all too happy to be putting Haven finally behind their backs. 

"Hey, Baekhyun, what are you doddling there for?" Chanyeol's voice loomed loudest next to the pack mule he and Suho were loading up, ready to go.

"Huh? Oh. Nothing. Nothing!" he called back with a sly grin, happy to find a nice little nook alongside the temple doorway in which to stash his newly fresh manuscript. It fit there perfectly, sure to be found if anyone just took a glance. Only Jongin caught him in the act, but the elf smiled at the man like he had a million gold pieces, and the warrior quickly averted his head. Jongin was so much fun to mess with sometimes, and Baekhyun loved all things fun.

 

 

 

 

CODEX UPDATED:

Found in Haven by a rather terrified new visitor, this hand-bound journal looks old but the writing is fresh. 

 

_Dear Fellow Traveler,_

_This village is barren, scary, not at all a nice place to raise a family. Andraste has frowned on the land, made evident by the fact that what lays within the walls, watching, circling, all around but rarely seen is a…DRAGON._

_A scaly, giant, fire breathing magical concoction of muscle and might, a DRAGON. I, a brave and consummate adventurer, am not frightened by such things. Lesser men, dwarves, Quanari, elves, and other such creatures may be. Dragons, my friends, are the least of my worries._

_I came here one day, unaware of the peril that may face me within this village._

_I happened to join up with a group of travelers that rambled through Haven one fortuitous day. Fortuitous because we happened upon a bunny. Of the hopping kind. All nice and sweet and belonging to a friendly mage, our fears of a dragon increased with the mage’s words, for he vaguely mentioned the unbelievable probably not real form of the DRAGON._

_We braced ourselves, my faithful comrades and I, for the potential appearance of the DRAGON. We bathed in the clear blue water of the nearby lake, splashing and laughing and generally not being eye catching bait for the frightful creature that may prowl the skies._

_As we finished bathing, our hair and skin glistening in the sun, as though gods descended from above, we spotted the BEAST. Circling overhead, angry, interested, though who could blame him._

_As an expert archer I was hardly afraid of what may occur if we faced such a beast. My fears were surrounding the welfare of my less skilled traveling companions, and largely I wanted the bunny to survive. When the DRAGON finally reared his ugly, scaly, filthy rich head I had poised my finest ice arrows, resolute to protect those around me._

_I pulled the arrow back in my bow, aiming as those around me fell apart, taken by hysteria. Aiming carefully, I let the arrow fly, watching as it plunged into the DRAGON. The large beast fell from the sky, a loud and horrendous sound crackling around as us it fell._

_My traveling companions, still half insane from the fight, recognized my brave deed and cheered for me. I accepted their presents and praise, realizing I, Baekhyun, yet again saved the day. As we departed that forsaken place, we dared look overhead. Only to see another DRAGON. One that most likely, is watching you now. And so I leave this note, urging you - LOOK ABOVE YOU!_

 

_Sincerely,_

_Dragon slayer extraordinaire Baekhyun*_

 

 

 

 

 

"So, Kris, have you ever encountered a giant? Are they better or worse than dragons? Huh? Huh?"

 "Baekhyun, stop teasing the qunari," said Jongdae ambivalently droll. Then the assassin cackled. "You'll give him nightmares for sure."

Between the elf and the qunari and assassin, and even Suho who was much taken lately with trying to curb Jongdae's excessive tongue, the banter continued for hours. Sehun, however, paid them very little attention. His head still pounded, whatever herbs Yixing had given him to ward off the effects of the _walking nightmare_ wore off every few hours, and on the last occasion, Sehun was reluctant to ask for more drugs. Why the party had consented so easily to let the mage come along was beyond his comprehension, but then he had almost given up trying to reason with Jongin, Baekhyun, or even Luhan's idea of a Grand Plan.

By midday, he let himself off the horses's back, partly to give the animal some rest, and partly because on foot, Sehun was not prone to dozing off. Despite his headache, physical activity seemed to quell his wandering mind. He'd slept well the night before, but even then he was visited in his dreams. Shadowy images, bright foliage, the sound of water trickling, swirling, flowing, falling. Nothing that he could make out with any degree of certainty.

And even in the middle of the day, he sometimes thought he could hear it: the sound of bubbling water.

Xiumin would not answer him. Where he'd gone, why he'd left with Kyungsoo, what happened to that mysterious man with the white skin that left gray patterns. Hooded and shadowed like something out of a nightmare, except in Kyungsoo's case, Sehun was certain he had seen him, spoke with him, touched him. And at some point he'd been afraid of him. Perhaps he still was, but curiosity, interest, confusion - all those emotions seemed to take greater affect. 

"You alright there," Chanyeol asked him once, when Sehun almost stumbled stepping over a tree root in the path. 

"Hmm? What? Yes. I'm fine," he replied curtly. 

The taller warrior put out a hand to steady him anyways, and much as he wanted to shrug the man off, Sehun let himself be comforted as he regained his balance, willing his head to clear, and his pulse to quit pounding. 

"Maybe you should ride again?" Suho asked next. The dwarf had a tendency to walk in his flank whenever he was not arguing with Jongdae. 

"No. I-I like walking, thank you." 

"Well that's something new!" yelled Baekhyun from somewhere in his rear. 

Sehun ignored him, ignored all of them, although he did crane his head around looking for Xiumin once more, only to catch that mage miles deep in a whispered conversation with the new healer, expression taut like they were arguing. Luhan had walked beside them. He was now, however, conversing with Jongin, also a little put out from being ignored. Only Jongdae it seemed, was strolling along in apparent innocent bliss. 

Where was Kyungsoo... that was all Sehun wanted to know. Where was he, what had happened, why had Xiumin disappeared with him. Where had they gone, why was only Xiumin back. Alright, so Sehun had a lot of questions, and added to those was the very nature of their entire excursion. What would they find at his aunt's homestead? Did she know about his existence. Was she prepared for their arrival. Was she nice, did she know his name? Why couldn't they really have gone on to West Hills. Couldn't they just go back and stay in Redcliffe? Or Denerim. 

He shook his head, stumbling once again along another root and this time there was no Chanyeol to catch him. Instead, Yixing was suddenly by his side, pulling him from the ground and brushing off his knees before putting a hand to his forehead. 

"You're burning up again. I'm so sorry," he whispered, the kindest words Sehun had probably heard in months. 

"Give him some more herbs, Yixing," said Xiumin from his other side.

They stopped in the shade of a large tree, Sehun being lowered gently onto the ground as the healer drew some supplies from his bag and under Xiumin's careful administration, herbs were pounded with a few powders which they forced Sehun to swallow.

"We shouldn't dawdle too long," Chanyeol warned lazily. 

"I second that, because I still swear there is a dragon that lives close by-" 

"Shut up, Kris," Baekhyun cut him off. "We're here because of Sehun, and if he isn't well than we might as well all disperse and go home." 

As they bickered some more, Sehun closed his eyes and let the herbs take effect. Within minutes his head felt lighter, less dizzy, more able to focus. But perhaps that wasn't really so because when he tried focusing his eyes into the tree line opposite, he swore he saw Kyungsoo. Or just the tips of his robes. So maybe he was still just imagining things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They ran into trouble in the early evening. No dragon, no giant, not even bears or bandits, but another particularly vicious pack of wolves. 

"Could be worse!" Jongdae howled as they formed instantly into a defensive stance. "Could be werewolves!"  

Luhan cringed all the same because, medium-sized wolves or not, they were still pesky creatures and with half a dozen leaning down on them, there was always the possibility of someone being hurt. 

He and Jongin lunged forward with their swords raised, the assassin right in their midsts as both Kris and Chanyeol made up the sides to block Sehun and Suho in the middle. The mages held the back, and this time there were multiple flashes of magic powering between the defenders as Xiumin and Yixing worked in tandem. Alistair snarled in between all of their legs and managed to take out one wolf all on his own. 

"Wretched beasts!" Jongin yelled as one of them snuck below his shield, tearing at his ankle. The same animal whimpered a moment later as an arrow caught it right between the eyes. 

"Not on my watch, you don't!" cried the elf. 

Within seconds though, both Jongin and Luhan shrieked themselves when a bluish light surrounded Jongin's bloodied ankle, and the wound shrunk and healed right before their eyes. 

"Alright!" Baekhyun whooped again. "See! Told you having another mage was a great idea!" 

Unfortunately, as Chanyeol dispatched the last of the beasts, that was not the end of it. Luhan counted the wolves, only one of which managed to slink off to its hiding spot. Chanyeol was already eyeing their pelts in anticipation. Kris wondered aloud, "Did anyone just hear something?" At this point, almost no one paid him attention. Instead, the rest of the party panted and wiped their sweat, Yixing healing minor wounds left and right, and for the first time all day Xiumin paid Luhan some special attention. 

"You're bleeding," he told the templar, to which Luhan almost rolled his eyes. It was just a surface scratch after all. What bruised more was how Chanyeol had accidentally elbowed him hard in the back in the middle of the fight. The oaf was good with a sword, but not always spatially aware. 

"Yeah, it's fine. Yixing can fix it-" 

And before he could finish his words, Yixing did indeed fix it. He looked up sheepishly, now squatting in the shadow of both mages. Yixing hovered above, Xiumin right by his side. It was a bit awkward, Luhan thought, given how the two mages had met, two of the three of them naked, and one had been Luhan. He still wasn't over his embarrassment from that. It wasn't really his finest moment in his career as a templar, or indeed as a man. 

"You all good there, Luhan?" the healer asked, hint of a smile on his face, although it was probably a smirk. Luhan was getting rather good at distinguishing the difference. Yixing may be an elf, but as an apostate he had some frighteningly similar traits to Xiumin. 

"Perfect. Never better." He smiled and held his breath, because the shorter mage was still crouched awfully close to him, hand on Luhan's lower back, face just inches away. And Luhan was starting to grow uncomfortable under their dual scrutiny. 

"So it seems," said Yixing with a curious glance between the two of them. Xiumin, probably realizing how this looked, suddenly cleared his throat and stood up. 

Jongin was arguing with Chanyeol about pelts, Suho was wandering towards the edge of the trees, unbloodied mace held in his hands as he surveyed the situation cautiously. He was always a little more bold when the fighting part was over. Sehun hadn't even gotten off his horse, although he was doing remarkably better with keeping the animal calm under such conditions. Luhan was proud of him and was about to vocalize them with a second wave of attackers suddenly surprised them, and this time it wasn't just wolves. 

It all happened so fast. One minute Suho was hunkered over one of the dead animals, the next there was a dagger under his throat, a burly body holding him back, and a dozen other men - no, dwarves - filing through the trees with their weapons posed. 

"Carta!" Kris growled, and Jongin likewise roared, everyone grabbing their weapons which they'd just so recently put away. However, nobody moved. A fierce band of Carta smugglers held their distance, warning, taunting, but not attacking. Until one of them who looked to be their leader suddenly spoke. 

"Well, what have we here?" He had rough, long hair, a large face that might have been handsome except for the grimace and the scowl, menacingly fierce. 

It was only Suho's precarious situation which kept the party from retaliating. The captive dwarf had frozen completely in fear, dagger trained upon his throat by a second dwarf who looked petite but firm, muscles bulging as he held the blade, pressing in but not yet breaking the skin. That could easily be remedied though, and nobody dared to find out what would happen if they moved. Xiumin held his hand to the back of Alistair's head to calm the beast while everyone just stared, holding their breaths. 

"Sehun," Baekhyun whispered across the clearing, "Off your horse now, please." 

Despite his aims to remain silent, the Carta leader of course heard him. "Great idea. In fact, we'd like that horse if you don't mind. What a nice sell that'll make." 

"What do you want?" Jongin declared fiercely. 

The leader of the Carta smiled viciously. "What do we want? Well, other than that horse and this renegade dwarf here... I think we could go our way, no harm done." 

"No harm done?!" Jongdae roared. "What claim do you have on that man?" 

"What claim?" said the leader facetiously. He smiled, uneven teeth on display. Jongdae's breath caught, almost hissing, and Suho tried to catch their eyes, pleading them not to do anything, although there wasn't much he could do without actually moving and putting him in further danger. "What claim? What other claim do I need other than that he's a renegade brother of ours, sworn to the Carta and yet here we find him. With you. Where's our stuff, Suho, huh? You were supposed to be transporting our goods. Don't you want to tell us where you stashed it?" 

The dwarf holding Suho shook him for good measure, while tears began tracking down the poor captive's face. Jongdae shifted menacingly, but halted when the Carta brute hissed threateningly. Luhan's eyes darted between the other dwarves, nine males in total, and two females with beautiful faces but looked anything less than sweet. None of them looked sweet, not in full Carta armor and a whole arsenal of weapons at hand. 

"There was no stash," Jongin tried to explain. "We found him almost dead... bandits had already raided whatever was in the cart." 

"And the rest of our men?" asked the leader. 

"Dead," Jongin replied.

 "Well, that's unfortunate." 

Everyone stiffened, ready for whatever the dwarves might throw at them in retaliation. However, the leader just continued to smirk, and then he shrugged. "But that's neither here nor there." He whistled, and Sehun's newly vacated horse stalked forward, almost against it's will, but when the Carta dwarf whistled again, he quickly strode from beyond their little circle and into the dwarves' custody.

 "We have no argument with you. Just with this one here." They shook Suho again for demonstration, tears now free-falling down his face. "We'll take the horse for our troubles and leave you here." 

"Don't you dare-" Jongdae almost lunged forward again. He was stopped though by Yixing, and the fearful cry from Suho as the dagger dug deeper against his skin, with just the tiniest hint of blood seeping across the blade.

"Hold your rogue in place, warrior," said the leader to Jongin. "He may be fast, but I assure you, Minhyuk here is faster. And already in place. Besides, what's this guy to you anyways. More useful where he comes from, I assure you." 

He eyed the rest of their party, as if waiting for argument, but when no one had anything to say - because they were worried about Suho - he smiled like he'd just won an argument. Luhan only caught Jongdae's eyes hardening, although the assassin did not move.  

Then Jongin asked the leader uncharacteristically, "Tell us your name at least. So we know who to avoid from here on out." 

The leader cocked his head, amused. "You show good sense, warrior. Avoid us, you definitely should. Yonghwa is my name. We'll bid you leave now. Jimin," he addressed one of the females. "Grab the horse and let's get out of here."

 

 

 

 

 

The dust across the path and trees cleared surprisingly quick following the retreat of the Carta smugglers. No one spoke until Kris, shockingly, broke the silence. "I told you I heard something coming!" The qunari shouted, scaring everyone else by the roar in his voice.

"Bleeding thorns, Kris," Baekhyun immediately retaliated, "You've been shrieking for days about  _dragon this_ and  _dragon that_. How are we supposed to know you meant something more closer to the ground!?" 

"Why are we still even talking about this," Jongdae interrupted. "We should be going aft-"

However, Kris wasn't done. "I tried to warn you, and all I got was shut down. So tell me, what are you going to do if one day we all get fried by dragon fire? Huh?!"

"Dragon fire?!" Baekhyun was livid. "You're missing the point here-"

"Exactly. Now why are we still standing here?" the assassin panted.

"And you!" Now that Baekhyun was fired up, not even Jongdae's simmering rage was a distraction when the elf turned his attention to Jongin himself. "You! You just let them? What was that about, Jongin?!" The warrior only bristled for a moment, as if confused by Baekhyun's attack, his mind still turning by the outburst.

"Uhm, guys..." Chanyeol tried to insert.

"Baekhyun, what exactly was I supposed to do? They had a blade to his throat."

"And now they have our horse," said Chanyeol. Jongdae, however, yelled at him twice as loudly as Baekhyun had at Kris, and the tall warrior immediately cowed under the fury of the smaller assassin. 

It took the edge off the arguments though, while everyone caught there breath. Luhan sheathed his sword with a clashing sound, Jongin and the others followed suit. Sehun, who looked extremely shaken up by the whole thing suddenly dropped to a crouch with his hands holding his knees. Yixing, now that he wasn't holding Jongdae back, attempted to go to him, but Xiumin got there first. 

"Luhan," Jongin said quietly, directly. 

The templar stood to attention. "Yes?"

Jongin took a breath, brain wracking furiously as he shook his head to clear his mind. Then he spoke. "It's less than a day probably until we reach Sehun's aunt's homestead and manor."

"Yes?" Luhan repeated, confused. "Why does that matter-"

"The Carta looked like they were headed due north. Take Xiumin, Yixing, and Jongdae and Alistair. Rescue Suho and meet us there. The rest of us will be fine taking Sehun alone. We'll... I'm sure we'll be able to compensate you all once we're settled there. I'll show you where on the map. In the meantime-"

"That's a fine plan," Jongdae agreed sullenly, less furiously. "We should go now though if we're not to lose them."

"You think we'll be able to follow their trail?" Luhan asked. Without a scout on hand like Baekhyun, traveling directly through the forest coasting the mountain range, it would definitely be harder.

"I know these parts," said Yixing. "I can do it." 

"Then, we have a plan," said Jongin. "Sehun, Baekhyun, Kris, Chanyeol and I will go straight to the manor. We'll... hope to see you in a few days."

"Bring the horse back too," said Chanyeol, awkwardly. 

"What's with your fascination with the horse?" Jongdae hissed.

The warrior dropped his head, teeth gripping his lower lip as he deliberated how to say something. Something which, after a few moments of repeated appeals to just get it out, was actually this: "The ring... In the pouch. I... moved it yesterday from the mule to the horse, under the saddle and... well now..." He flushed, waiting for their reactions.

"Damnation, Chanyeol, really?!" cried Baekhyun.

"I'll leave Alistair with you then, but we need to leave right away," was Xiumin's only reply.

 


	19. Proper Introductions

To everyone's dismay, the Carta dwarves seemed to have made quite a bit of headway. Their path was distinct but cold no matter how fast Xiumin, Luhan, Yixing, and Jongdae paced. For one, neither Jongdae nor Luhan were used to trekking  _through_  the forest instead of around it, and even Xiumin was finding it difficult to stay on track. The woods were dense, the sky almost completely obscured. The path was unstable, rocky, and lined with tree stumps emerging out of the ground making it difficult for even the most surest of foot to travel without paying extra attention.

"Are we still going the right way?" Jongdae asked impatiently.

They were relying heavily on Yixing's magic, a bauble of light shining from the tip of his staff to point the way and brighten the shadows.

"Yes, we are," the elf mage answered steadily. "Although I can't guarantee that we'll get far unmet by anything in these forests."

"What do you mean?" Luhan's voice warbled. He was tired already, Xiumin could tell. On foot on a normal day, they walked a steady pace on even roads. It took a different kind of muscle though to traverse the way they were going now. The templar stumbled over a rock even as he talked, and Xiumin caught him, one arm catching him steadily under his arm and holding him up. Luhan regained his balance, but was too embarrassed to even thank him. Instead, his cheeks blushed the slightest shade pink and he glanced Xiumin's way and then quickly gathered his robes so they wouldn't trail across the ground. Xiumin smiled, amused as ever.

Yixing had noticed as well. "Is the templar not quite used to this yet? Xiumin, you haven't been training him well."

Even Jongdae smirked, the most non-concerned expression they'd gotten out him in the two hours since they started on their journey.

Luhan seemed to steady himself, holding himself upright taller than he seemed. Sometimes Xiumin forgot the templar was actually a regal looking man. Most of the time he seemed small and delicate, funny and useless, even though he was taller than currently everyone in the party. He wouldn't deny of course that he was good in battle, but outside of such an occasion, Xiumin didn't exactly know what to do with him. Humor the man, take him unawares or get him off guard, sneak away when the time was right. That had been his master plan. And all that had changed the moment he heard Luhan lying to the other templars. Claiming he'd never found him, Xiumin, the apostate accused of blood magic and whatever other evils the scroll contained.

Now, Xiumin could practically not imagine the templar any other way than friendly, more than friendly. A friend. Someone he could almost trust with his life. It wouldn't do though to scare him too soon. The things in his mind, his dreams, his past. Xiumin had not forgotten the look of horror when he'd first used magic, the fear and betrayal and confusion, and how narrowly they had passed such an ordeal. The templar might now  _act_ like he was used to his spells, flashes of light, and combat magic. But he still had no conception for the pools of magic Xiumin could draw from the Fade, that any mage could do given the chance, or how dangerous it was. It was unlikely any of the mages confined by the Circle had ever demonstrated something powerful enough before Luhan's eyes. And a templar's magic was powerful, but compared to Xiumin's, mere tricks. 

"Something the matter?" Luhan interrupted his thoughts. 

"What?" Xiumin shook his head.

"You had a strange look on your face."

"I did?"

Luhan nodded. Yixing smirked. The other mage was a worrying presence. He knew too much. He knew  _him_. 

"Just observing your ugly face," Xiumin told the templar, who promptly frowned and earned the description. 

"Are we gaining any ground?" Jongdae was not amused by the two mages' joint laughter and Luhan's continuing frown. 

Yixing recovered faster. "Can't exactly tell yet, although I can tell you that dwarves are hardy and they can cover quite a lot of ground in one day. I'm afraid we may not meet with the others again for perhaps a day, maybe two, depending on how far these Carta thieves are moving."

"Even with the horse?"

"Yep, even with the horse."

"You sound like you have quite the animosity for the Carta," said Luhan.

Xiumin looked to him sharply. 

Yixing, however, replied as calmly as ever. "They are... pests, to be sure. Mind you, smugglers usually are. And they have no loyalty to the King of Orzammar or anyone else, so... their law is their own. Whatever makes the gold."

"Are they really all that bad though?" asked Luhan. "I mean, they didn't really attempt to attack us."

"No, well as I said, they're smugglers, not murderers as a rule. But never underestimate the casteless dwarves of Orzammar. Most were probably born in the slums, or on the surface. And once you come up, you can't go back. Disowned, disenfranchised. That's why you should never mess around with the organized ranks of the Carta. They have nothing to lose."

"You ever been to Orzammar?" Jongdae asked.

"No," said Yixing. "But I know someone who has." 

This time it was Xiumin's turn to almost trip over his feet. 

 

 

 

 

By nightfall, Sehun was ready to be home. Somewhere, anywhere that could be considered permanent. And still Jongin denied they were technically close. "We sleep here tonight. We'll make the manor house by mid-afternoon tomorrow." 

Sehun didn't know why, if they were that close why didn't they just travel through the night, but then it wasn't his job to lead the expedition or to keep them safe. Maybe if he pulled rank and ordered Jongin, the warrior would relent. However, he wasn't convinced it would even work, and he wasn't going to try. They were alive so far because of Jongin. Although technically, they'd also been aided greatly by Xiumin and Luhan. And Jongdae. 

At least they still had Alistair.

The hound, in his master's absence, had glued itself to Sehun, and for that he was grateful. It was a little bit of comfort, sleeping up next to a warm animal, even if he drooled. They'd found shelter in a small cave. It was damp, but so was the outdoors. A light rain began trickling down just as they settled in, Jongin and Baekhyun bickering about meals and who had the better blanket, Chanyeol arguing with Kris about the existence of the rare Sharp-Tail Dracolisk. The qunari claimed such mounts were untamable, and Chanyeol doubted if they even lived. All of it was moot to Sehun. He slid up against the side of the cave wall, trying to find a comfortable spot. They ate dried meats, and Chanyeol started a small fire which they positioned to one side of the opening to let out some of the smoke. Baekhyun decided to give Jongin the better blanket as long as he could share. 

"I'll take first watch," Kris proposed. He looked exhausted though, meanwhile Sehun was wide awake.

"I'll do it."

"What?" Three pairs of voices echoed back at him, Jongin, Baekhyun, and Kris all surprised.

Sehun merely shrugged. "I'm not sleepy. I can shout loud if anything attacks."

It took a bit of convincing, but in the end the others fell asleep, including Alistair and the mule. Sehun had no idea what he was watching for. What did one do when they had to stay awake at night, other than worry themselves with useless thoughts, like his aunt turning him away to face bog fever, or worse. Like having to go back to Denerim which a few weeks ago Sehun wouldn't have minded, but they were now half a world away, so it felt.

The fire burned low, Sehun's eyes began to droop. He shook his legs to keep himself awake and almost didn't notice when Alistair suddenly awoke, head towards the cave entrance and ears on the alert. He growled once, low in his throat, and that was the trigger that caught Sehun's attention. On the other side of the fire, there was a vague silhouette. Sehun's heart began to pound, tongue trying to formulate a word to wake the others. But then Alistair's growls ceased, and instead he wagged his tail once.

Someone friendly. 

Sehun pulled himself to his feet, almost hitting his head on the low overhang until he crouched into the middle. Could it be Xiumin and Luhan returning so soon? Had they been successful and rescued Suho, or maybe the dwarf had escaped on his own? Unlikely, and unlikelier still when Sehun counted only one body, and this of just an average height. Robed, concealed.

"Kyungsoo?" he whispered. 

He hadn't seen him since the time he and Xiumin disappeared together. Alistair padded past him and approached the human, just as Kyungsoo stepped firmly into the light made from the fire, just the hint of a smile as he nodded. He wore gloves now, green gloves unlike his robes of grey, so when Alistair nudged his head into Kyungsoo's hand, he left no marks. A shiver passed through Sehun before he quickly pushed it away. Since when had Kyungsoo grown more cunning?

"Sehun," said the man. "I see you're still well."

Sehun spun his head around to see if the others were still asleep. They were, therefore he responded, "Xiumin's not here," before biting his tongue. Why he wanted the mage, or why Sehun thought Kyungsoo might want the mage, he didn't know.

"I'm aware of that." He continued to pet Alistair, pulling at the hound's ears but he made no move to step around the fire and enter the cave completely. His eyes too darted to the four sleeping figures before focusing back on Sehun. "I came to find you actually."

"Me?" 

Kyungsoo smiled. "And them. But mainly you."

"I-I don't understand," Sehun stuttered quietly, still checking on the others. Baekhyun moved in his sleep, but the elf hadn't yet fully awoken. Sehun feared that might change the longer they spoke. 

"To give you a warning, actually."

Now that did give Sehun a fright. How the other could speak so impassibly, evenly, while delivering a warning.

"What?" His body felt frozen stiff.

"Edgevalley Manor. The place you are heading. Who was it again that lives there, your aunt? I'm warning you: don't go there."

"How do you know that?" Sehun gulped, no longer whispering. 

"Did you forget I've been following you for ages. I hear many things." Kyungsoo sighed like he was speaking to a child. 

"Why don't you want us to go there? What's there?"

"Oh it's nothing to do with me," Kyungsoo denied, "I'm just being nice by passing on the message. If you go there,  _you may die_."

As if the phrase included a keyword, Baekhyun finally woke up. Sehun almost fell over, hearing the rustling which included a few grunts of disapproval and finally a gasp.

"Sehun?! Jongin, wake up!"

Kyungsoo stiffened, but he didn't move off. All in the span of several seconds though, all three warriors were on their feet, and Baekhyun had drawn his bow. 

"Freeze, you wretch!"

"Who are you!?"

"Sehun, back away!" 

However, Sehun did not. Kyungsoo dropped to his knees, less in surrender though because Alistair's girth effectively shielded him, and even though he could have slipped away before, he made no motion to do so now. 

"Who are you?!" Jongin demanded again.

Baekhyun answered. "Jongin, this is who's been following us. I just know it." Both Jongin and Chanyeol, armor-less but still lethal, edged forward, step by agonizing half step. The elf only adjusted his angle, holding the arrow taut, but since Kyungsoo didn't answer and Alistair hadn't moved away, Sehun stepped forward himself and into the line of fire.

"Don't," he breathed out, arms open as if to shield him from attack. "He's... he just came to warn us about-"

"Sehun, he's been tailing us for over a month. There's no warning he could give that would make me not shoot."

"His name is Kyungsoo!" 

Baekhyun was obviously not expecting this response. Nor were the others. Jongin's sword arm actually faltered in shock, lowering by a few degrees, and Baekhyun appeared flabbergasted. 

"What?" 

Only Kris held his stance, neither unnerved by the stranger's presence nor confused by the turn of events.

Chanyeol, however, could not contain his surprise. "It has a name?"

"How... do you know his name?" Jongin questioned him tersely. All eyes darted between Sehun and Kyungsoo, who still crouched in silence behind the hound, one hand on the animal's back, the other hidden behind  _his_  back. Sehun suddenly doubted his sincerity, if Kyungsoo had a weapon or a staff. Was he magical or not? He'd never volunteered such things, Sehun had never asked, and Xiumin refused to say a word about what had happened when he and Kyungsoo went off. 

"We've... met before," Sehun tried to explain. 

"When? How?" Baekhyun's voice shook, but his eyesight did not. He moved not a single muscle, everything part of his body poised to let the arrow fly if Kyungsoo so much as give him a split second's reason to strike.

"A while ago... several times. He knows Xiumin too!" he added quickly. 

This did not seem to appeal to Jongin. The warrior's eyes widened in distrust, and Sehun feared he hadn't done the mage a favor by offering up his name like that. "And Luhan..." It was a stretch Sehun wasn't sure he should be taking. 

Jongin visibly swallowed. "Let me get this straight then. Your name is Kyungsoo," he said, addressing the man directly, "you've been following us since the Brecelian Forest, and... now you have a warning for us?" He shook his head like he could not believe even half of what he assessed. Baekhyun was also no closer to believing this.

Sehun caught Kyungsoo's eyes, and slowly the man stood back up, arms back down by his side. Boldly, he faced the others and spoke. "Yes." 

Baekhyun scoured him from head to toe, suddenly focusing on the dark green gloves. "You're the one with the grey touch." It was not a question, but Kyungsoo nodded at this too. 

"He's saved my life, several times," Sehun added.

Jongin by-passed this and went straight for, "What are you and what do you want?"

Kyungsoo held himself stiffly. "As you've heard, you know my name. After that, I'm just a man... with a slight ailment." He shrugged. 

"How come you've never shown yourself before then?" Chanyeol demanded to know.

"No reason to. You were already afraid of me before."

"So what's different now?" asked Jongin.

Kyungsoo smiled, no trace of his teeth and it did not reach his eyes. "As you've heard," he repeated slowly, "I have a warning."

"From who? Who sent you?"

Another smirk. "Nobody sent me. This warning is from me, because I thought perhaps you'd like to know." 

"And that warning is?"

"That the people who attacked you before have already gone towards Edgevalley Manor."

Jongin looked stricken, Baekhyun appalled, and Chanyeol cursed. Sehun clutched below his throat, suddenly feeling very small and afraid. Jongin finally lowered his weapon and approached closer. It was then that he seemed to notice Alistair and how the animal was completely at ease with the supposed-to-be stranger. 

"You helped us fight them before. How do you know where they have gone?" 

"Eavesdropped on a group of them several nights ago. Since your party made a detour and they did not. They complained of many things," he spoke conversationally, as if they had all night to list things. "A dragon, rumors of werewolves near Gherlen's Pass, stale water and lack of good ale. The boy they intended to capture, perhaps to kill." 

They ruminated on that, particularly Jongin whose job it was to make the decisions for the party. No expression that passed across his face looked particularly pleasant right now though. Concern, mistrust, indecision; Sehun read it all because the same things were going through his head. And yet, this was Kyungsoo who looked terrifying but had saved him or assisted them over and over. The only question was what were his motives. Sehun guessed he may not answer, if questioned so bluntly. 

"You realize, I have no reason to take your word for this," said Jongin evenly. 

"I know," Kyungsoo replied. "It's your prerogative now, how you shall take my words. I had hoped Xiumin would believe me, since we passed some time together. However, now that you have split, I have no choice but to come to you directly."

"You have a choice though," Baekhyun interrupted. "Why come to tell us at all?" 

"Can't a person just be nice?" Kyungsoo smiled.

"Nice," Baekhyun repeated. "Nice, is going on a vacation that just so happens to follow our route and then telling us we're all going to die. This smells like a trap from every angle, and I don't know what you've told the mage. He's not here. We are. And I know for a fact there's something off about you. Take off your gloves and let us see, won't you?"

Kyungsoo inclined his head, smirking all the while. "Cautious, aren't you?"

"Of course we are," said the elf. 

"So cautious that you've allowed all manner of folks and races from all kinds of mysterious backgrounds into your circle. What's one more like me to throw off the balance of all your carefully weighed caution?" Even as he spoke though, he began to fidget with one glove, wrenching it off with one hand until his left palm was bare and plain to see. Just like a human hand, fleshy but dirty, although Sehun knew it was that way by appearance alone. That whatever Kyungsoo touched, wherever he placed his palm, he left a mark for all to see. 

"Care to shake my hand?" 

No one volunteered, even though they had to know what would happen when they did. Grey that faded to nothing, except on one who was already dead. Those marks they knew did not fade. Yet the marks on Sehun had...

"I don't think I need to," Baekhyun responded finally. "It is clear you are sick in some way, and I'm willing to bet it is the taint. Tell us, Kyungsoo... Just what manner of Darkspawn are you really?"


	20. Rescue

_Darkspawn._

_Darkspawn_. Not a word that Sehun expected to hear, not out of Baekhyun's lips, not accusing of Kyungsoo. Not something Sehun thought was even possible. Darkspawn don't exist above ground. They live in the earth, beneath the surface, in the abandoned Deep Roads carved by the dwarves of long ago. Spawns of devils and controlled by the Archdemon. 

"That's... impossible," he said softly. 

"Is it though?" asked Baekhyun, his voice deadly cool.

Sehun continued to shake his head, petrified but in denial because Kyungsoo was neither confirming it nor denying the elf.

Darkspawn did not talk, they don't even appear to think. They arise as a mass like a hive of bees when the Archdemon calls, pouring across the land like vicious beasts and attacking everything that moves. A Blight. Yet the last Blight was two years ago and the Archdemon was defeated. So were the Darkspawn, and those who weren't killed rushed back underground. They certainly didn't stay above to socialize with the other races. And they didn't normally look so... human. Like Kyungsoo.

The...  _human_  though only smirked. And it was a curious expression, like Sehun halfway expected Kyungsoo to congratulate Baekhyun on his testimony, halfway expected Kyungsoo to sigh and start denying the whole thing. In the end, Sehun was right. Halfway right.

"I'm not Darkspawn."

"Then what are you exactly?" Jongin asked with no second to spare. He held his sword arm aloft again, shield before his chest. Chanyeol was now doubly panicking and begging Sehun to step away. 

Kyungsoo didn't answer though. He continued to smirk, half-smiling, almost resigned to the accusation. 

"You're not Darkspawn," Baekhyun repeated carefully, unbelieving, "yet you carry the taint. We've seen what your hands can do. Do they turn everything they touch? Is that why you wear gloves? Why now when you obviously didn't before?" 

Again Kyungsoo shrugged. His hood had slipped off his head, dark messy hair on display, and Sehun was reminded of how splotchy was his skin. Pale, but dirtied, sallow and ill-looking. Sickly. Whatever else Kyungsoo was, he was definitely sickly. 

"Your friend leant them to me. Said I wouldn't scare people so bad if I couldn't mark them."

"A little late for that," Baekhyun scoffed.

"Our friend? You mean Xiumin?" asked Chanyeol with a scowl on his face. 

Kyungsoo nodded, putting his hand back into the glove. He lowered his head while he wrestled with the leather cloth, completely at ease with the situation about himself and appearing not the least bit scared. It was condescending, to say the least, to ignore the four sets of weapons pointed in his direction. Once on, however, he looked back up and one gloved-hand stroked languidly behind Alistair's ears, ruffling the hound's fur and causing it to pant happily. 

"What has Xiumin to do with you anyway?" Jongin asked cautiously.

"Nothing," said Kyungsoo. "We've chatted. That's all."

"About what?"

"About life?" Kyungsoo chuckled, lips opening into a sneer, like he was in possession of a great joke that he wasn't about to share. It was an eerie, disturbing sound, yet oddly not terrifying. Sehun's throat felt dry, but he was no longer afraid. Especially when Kyungsoo stopped abruptly and said with an unnaturally serious turn, "But really, I'm not Darkspawn." He shook his head, almost pleading them to believe, however nonchalant his tone.

"I also don't have anything against any of you. I just want... company?" His eyes flicked towards Sehun's for a brief, solitary moment. Then they were back on Jongin. 

The warrior had a decision to make. Sehun wished he could help him do it, however, this wasn't his place. No matter that he believed Kyungsoo wouldn't harm him. No matter that he claimed not to be Darkspawn. Because he was definitely something, and that something was tainted. Sehun should have recognized it before. The Blight hadn't affected his home very much, not personally, but a lifetime of books and studying ought to have been enough. Only dark magic left such a stain. Dark magic or something rotten. 

"Tell us about the group you eavesdropped on, and maybe explain why you reek of Darkspawn," said Jongin finally, "and maybe we'll let you stay. Get within five paces of Sehun, however, and you're dead. I don't care what or who you are, or whether you've brainwashed Alistair or not. Those are my rules. Take it or leave it."

 

 

 

In the confines of a partially hidden cave, dark with markings on the walls, there was a heavy door. Steps after narrow steps leading into the earth, lit only by torchlight and no moving air. A long ago abandoned entrance to the Deep Roads, now cut off from the dwarven *thaigs but still accessible partway by the surfacers. 

It should have been familiar, almost comfortable, for a dwarf, and yet Suho was not reassured at all. 

"Will ya quit sweating like a nug!" somebody, one of the Carta dwarves whose names Suho had not paid attention to, shoved him harshly in the back with his boot. Suho cried out and toppled sideways onto the ground, legs out before him tied and manacled, and arms likewise. "By the stones, you'd think this one had never been away from the sweet, sweet skies. What's the matter, dwarf, afraid of falling back into the earth? It's a  _long_  way down but fortunately for you it's caved in! Or maybe we could use your thick skull for a battering ram?" He laughed maniacally and kicked him again for good measure until asked to quit by another of the Carta thieves, purely on the grounds that Suho's tears were becoming obnoxious.

"Halfway tempted to throw him back to Orzammar and let him survive in the poor quarter if he can take it," another one muttered.

"Now, now, there'll be none of that," said Yonghwa, the leader, cutting him off. 

"When'd you become so compassionate?" one of the females sniffed. She had short blonde hair, a cute face, and a personality that did not match. There were only two of them, and Choa was currently much more vicious than the other, Jimin, had been. 

"Nothing to do with compassion," Yonghwa sniffed. "More like, this one owes us a debt and now, since he's run off and lost our goods, I'd say he owes us doubly?" 

Suho caught his smirk, as if Yonghwa were asking his opinion for his own worth. Taunting him by upping the value. "Maybe triply? I mean, how convenient that all the stocks were stolen by bandits and everybody died but  _you_. Four better smugglers than you were lost. I wonder how you plan to make up for it?"

Suho whimpered and pressed his eyelids shut. Anything was better than being on the receiving end of one of Yonghwa's glares. When he was first turned casteless, Yonghwa was there, the first of the Carta ringleaders Suho had the mispleasure to come across. The memories of it still burned in his mind, being pressed into the earth, knees skinned along the stone, and his face breathing in soot by the boot holding down his head. 

_'You have two options now, scum. Try to make it on your own and likely die, or work for us. What do ya say?'_

The rags of his once fine clothes were torn away fiber by fiber in order that something might be salvaged for value, either threads or jewels. The fine silver bands on his wrists were stripped for plunder and sold to  _'pay your entry into the Carta. Aren't we generous, see?'_

Generous was a life of pseudo-slavery. Surface dwarves liked to call themselves free, but to dwarves like Suho, born to do other things, it was more hell than the fiery pits of the deepest Orzammar mines. When the Carta caravan Suho was supposed to be 'protecting' was attacked by human bandits, it wasn't so much skill that Suho had survived, but mere providential luck. He was very good by then at playing dead, only moving again later when prodded by the flat end of somebody's sword. Jongin's, he learned soon enough. What a shame he'd never see them again. He could almost imagine a life wandering Thedas, learning by an assassin's sword, leading a mule, stewing pots of gruel, and hearing more than just one kind word a day. He even missed that wretched hound as big as he that had given him nightmares. As it turned out, Alistair didn't eat him whole but he did slobber a great deal too much. Everyone else was just tall enough that his tongue didn't slap them in the face. 

"Jungshin, why don't you go check on the others?" Yonghwa's voice was acid. "They should have been back by now, lazy dust snffers, they're probably smelling the roses as they go. But I'm hungry!"

"Somebody say food?" Minhyuk, the tiniest of the dwarves - although still faster than Suho - poked his head through a narrow door that lead to another cavern. 

"Nobody said food. Until the others return. Why don't you go with him if you're so desperate," Yonghwa complained. 

"No, thanks. I'll wait."

Suho watched expressionlessly as Jungshin and a few other Carta threw weapons over their backs and began to ascend the crumbling stone steps. He figured they were at least several levels below ground, one dungeon twisting upon the other down the old dwarven ruin. No hint of light pierced this far down, and Suho almost didn't want to see it again if it meant a life again on the move with the Carta. He wondered if he moaned and complained long enough if somebody wouldn't just end his life. Maybe that would be easier. However, he was too much of a coward to actually try. 

Without the sun to tell the time, he had no way of knowing how long he'd been underground. They had moved so fast through the forest, almost to the point that he could barely keep up and had to be dragged, half-carried the remainder of the way. His body ached, every muscle was sore, worse than the few days after which Jongdae and Chanyeol had begun to teach him weaponry. He dozed, eyes lurching closed against his will, happy memories fading in and out, friendly faces and smiles and good-humored teases unlike the kind given by the Carta. Sehun's face when he brought him something to eat, Jongin's frown when he was caught thinking too much, Luhan's bright eye smiles when he looked at Xiumin, and the always there, always attached form of the assassin that once scared the piss out of Suho, and then drove him crazy. He'd probably miss Jongdae the most. It had been nice while it lasted. 

Suho woke up from his stupor to an extremely different environment. Still in the cavernous ruin, he panicked and looked around. Yonghwa was gone, so were the other Carta dwarves, but all of them appeared to be up one level and there was the sound of steel upon steel and a few heavy blasts that shook the carved ruin walls. A pile of dust unsettled from the ceiling and dropped on Suho's head as he struggled to sit up, shifting only slightly but just in time to avoid a heavy boulder collapse and shatter right into the ground where he had been. Was he about to die? Had they been attacked by more bandits out to steal everything? Would Suho's life end so simply, just one more smuggler and thief to add to the pile of the dead?

"Suho?!" 

He gasped. That wasn't Yonghwa's voice calling out to him with such worry and concern.

"Suho?!"

"Suho, where are you?"

It was Jongdae. And Xiumin. 

"Here! Down here!" he called back, giddy from excitement and disbelief. It was impossible - no, but it  _was_ possible! - that they had come to rescue him!

"Suho!!" Jongdae kept calling him. 

"Here!" Suho returned, just as a billowy cloud of smoke exploded through the narrow doorway flowing down the steps. Jongdae emerged through it first, coughing and with a hand covering his mouth. He ran towards Suho as soon as he saw him, Xiumin appearing immediately in his shadow. Far above them a battle raged on, carried on no doubt by others in the party against the dwarves. 

"Suho, you're alright!" Jongdae crouched his side, already fiddling with the chains around his feet and hands. "Can you walk? Is there a key? We have to be quick and-"

"Move over," said Xiumin, the mage kneeling as well with his staff in his hand. Jongdae wasted no time getting out of the way and Suho winced as the mage began to say a spell. "Don't move a moment, this might feel sharp." Then he plunged the bottom of his staff against the steel manacles. Instantly, frost lines streaked across the metal, nearly freezing Suho's skin as they burned a white, hot cold. Suho shrieked anyway while Jongdae held him still, and then Xiumin tapped his staff again and the shackles shattered into a million tiny pieces, disintegrating like ice and then melting away. 

"Come on!" Jongdae pulled him by the arm. Suho's legs wouldn't hold his weight, and he found himself halfway suspended between the two as they lifted and dragged him up the steps. The second level wasn't much better than the first, except that Luhan was holding the fort against several stunned dwarves who lay upon the ground. He quickly ran to Xiumin to take over his roll and the mage dashed ahead of them with his staff held aloft. On the first level, there was Yixing waving his staff high as a fire wall thrice Suho's height blocked the rest of the Carta into a corner. 

"Have you got him?" cried Yixing steadily, not taking his eyes away from the dwarves huddling in fear on the other side of the flames.

"Got him. Let's go!"

Then Luhan shoved Suho up the last small path, Jongdae pulling from in front, and Suho saw the stars again. He promptly cried out in joyous exclamation, ignoring the shouts of the coming dwarves. Xiumin battled Yonghwa before the tunnel entrance. Yixing fled from inside the cave, doubling the attack on the Carta leader who dodged their attacks cunningly with his shield. Suho hardly noticed how the two mages were fencing him in, circling the dwarf until Yonghwa's back was to the cave wall. Jongdae was still dragging Suho with his weak legs and limbs towards the horse they'd stolen from the party. He scampered to hold on, Jongdae lifting him up and climbing on behind. Then the assassin reached around him to pull at the reins and the animal reared its front legs with a fleeting, terrified  _neigh_. 

“Now, Yixing!” Xiumin called, just as Luhan darted in between the two mages to stall Yonghwa in the entryway, effectively shoving him back inside before pulling out. Suho nearly panicked again when Yixing fired his staff at the rock hanging above. It struck the boulders as if by lightning and crumbled down while everybody dodged the debris, including Suho who was nowhere near it. Jongdae held him tight though, Suho’s eyes barely open as he peered terrified through half-closed lids. Yonghwa was nowhere to be seen, blockaded inside the cave. Luhan had jumped to avoid the falling rocks. Yixing was safely out of the way, but one mage was not.

"Minseok, look out!!" Yixing cried as the mage he called... Minseok... barely dived to avoid one last shuddering boulder. 

The scene leveled out, dust settled over the earth. Everyone panted heavily, even Jongdae as he struggled to calm the horse and Suho as well.

Luhan looked twice as stunned. His robes were filthy, dust staining his sweat-slicked face and hair, but as he crawled to his knees and pushed himself up to his feet, his eyes were on Xiumin. On... Minseok. He glanced briefly at Yixing who panicked visibly, evidently mortified at his utterance and already stuttering to try and explain.

"I mean-"

"Shut up." Luhan didn't even look at him again. He stalked towards the other mage, Xiumin, Minseok, who lay in the dirt, flustered and exhausted, but also unusually calm and composed, like he was waiting for something. Like he'd been waiting for  _this_. "What, did he call you?" Luhan panted. He stalled half a body length away and stared with almost unseeing eyes. 

"Luhan, I can explain," Yixing tried to interject, but he was met with a palm held out in the air. He actually choked, his hands converging upon his throat and chest as he doubled over, eyes watering like he was suffocating.

"Luhan, stop! You're hurting him!" Xiumin, Minseok, hurled himself to his feet, dragging Luhan's hand down in fear as Yixing dropped to his knees. The templar jerked, actually unaware that he'd resorted to magic in order to stifle the mage's power. He cringed away from both of them, fear and disbelief and confusion all swarming at once and his face grew red from his exertions. "Luhan, please!" Xiumin, Minseok, tried to hold him. "Let us explain-"

"Us?!" Luhan suddenly roared, backing away on his own with his sword once again in his hand. "There's an  _us?!_  Do I even want to hear this?!"

Xiumin, Minseok, looked ready to cry. Yixing did not try to speak again. He knelt in the dirt, still holding his chest although he was no longer bound by any strange power. 

"Who is Minseok?" Luhan asked, deadly calm. The other did not answer, so Luhan repeated it again. "Who is Minseok? Are  _you_ Minseok? Then who is Xiumin?" He did not drop his sword, although it wasn't pointed at anybody in particular. It was probably on this assurance that the mage replied. 

" _I_ am Minseok..."

"Answer the second question then," said Luhan without pause. 

"I... Xiumin is..." Minseok swallowed heavily, eyes darting towards Yixing for aid.

The templar followed his glance, fury lighting up his countenance. "Is he Xiumin?! Is he the blood mage?! Have you been hiding and helping each other all this time?!"

"No!" Minseok pleaded bitterly, loudly. "He's not... He's just Yixing, a friend."

"A friend you've still been lying about!?" Luhan railed. "What else aren't you telling me? Who is Xiumin? And where is Xiumin?! Because I thought I was arresting a blood mage named Xiumin, and if that's not what I did, then tell me,  _Minseok_ ," he snarled, "what  _have_  I done?!" 

He was halfway to furious. So too, apparently, were the dwarves trapped behind the blocked cave opening. Their shouts and hammers echoed through the rubble, jostling a few smaller pebbles which effectively distracted everybody except Luhan. And Minseok. 

"We need to get out of here now," Jongdae said, overly loud. For a few minutes Suho had almost forgotten what was going on. He'd been rescued, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Jongdae's arm tightened around his waist as he turned the horse away from the scene. "Argue later about names! Come on!" 

Yixing wasted no time following the assassin's command, Suho noticed forlornly, head swiveled around Jongdae's shoulder to make sure they were coming. The other two, however...

"I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything, I promise," Minseok practically begged. His voice wavered and almost broke. Luhan looked nowhere near mollified, but this was not the time to do this, or the place. Especially the place. Another rumble from inside the dwarven ruin had Luhan sheathing his sword and throwing his shield over again behind his back. He tred quickly towards the horse, ignored Yixing completely, and then looked scathingly back at Minseok who had half-collapsed in the dirt again. 

"Get up and follow me, and don't you dare think about running away. Or I  _will. stop. you_."

 


	21. Flight for Life

They'd been traveling for hours without cease, Jongdae and Suho still on horseback, Yixing, Luhan and Minseok on foot. High above their heads the moon loomed bright, but it was obscured mostly under the canopy of trees and branches. Minseok hadn't even dared approach the animal to check for the pouch he hoped still contained the cursed ring. Jongdae, however, on a silent word from Minseok, reached back and felt the bag that had been secretly attached to the horse's saddle. Whatever he felt through the layers of cloth seemed to reassure him that it was still there. He nodded to Minseok when the others weren't looking. Anything further, Minseok dared not do, for fear of alarming the still furious but now silent templar.

"Luhan..." He'd tried to approach him, to no avail. Luhan ignored his precious attempts completely except when Minseok forced his attention and then he scowled and pulled away his arm, intent to focus more on the forest floor and their direction. Yixing remained silent, but he was just as subjected to Luhan's silent treatment as Minseok.

_Minseok,_ how strange it felt to be called that again. To think of himself that way after all this time. He owed the templar an explanation, surely. He owed them all one. But Luhan frightened him, and it wasn't just because the templar had the powers to resist him. Minseok was still sure of his own abilities. Yixing also was more than capable of fending him off, now that he knew to be prepared. He wouldn't make the same mistake again as to be surprised by Luhan's magic cleansing power. In fact, the templar would likely die if he ever tried to defy Yixing again.

"I told you..." Yixing had whispered to him shortly after they set off. "I told you... I  _said_  he could not be trusted." Minseok resolutely shook his head, wishing for Yixing to stop. But he did not. " _Fool_. And you think he won't turn you in now?"

"He won't, now stop it." Minseok had pushed passed him, both of the mages turning mum when Luhan glanced fiercely back at them to check if they were still following. Minseok knew he'd never be able to turn his footsteps away. He couldn't, and he didn't want to.

Still, Yixing tried to dispute it. "We should leave. Now."

"No."

"Minseok-"

"I said, no. Go if you want, but I will not."

The thing Minseok feared the most was not actually Luhan turning on him. It was Luhan turning his back  _on him_. Walking away. Figuratively, and for good, and not just the image of his back as he strode through the trees following Jongdae and the horse. But if Luhan actually left Minseok behind, or thought he was wasn't worth it at all.

He'd never seen him so angry before, not even when Minseok had bound the bandit mage in the crushing prison and taken his life before Luhan's very eyes. Would he still let Minseok follow him if he knew where Minseok had learned that spell, if he knew that Yixing had acted as his mentor for years, if he knew truly what Yixing was? Currently, the only thing Minseok trusted Luhan with was not harming Minseok. Everything beyond that fleeting bit of hope, however, was in the air. Would he still try to arrest him and take him to the Circle Tower? Would Minseok still one day have to make his escape and never see Luhan again? All thoughts he needed seriously to reflect on, without having the least bit of energy to do so.

Yixing didn't go. He stubbornly kept pace like a bodyguard and only spoke once when they had to halt because Suho was so faint he almost fell out of Jongdae's arms and off the horse.

"Let me," he said, pushing passed Luhan's mildly worried posture to attend to the dwarf. Luhan almost protested, but when Suho sighed, visibly relieved by a healing aura, he had no choice but to let the elf mage continue his magic. 

"I'm sorry," he uttered, when Yixing straightened up. 

The words made Minseok gasp silently, even as Yixing glared at Luhan. "What?" The mage squinted his eyes, not caring at all that the templar was taller than him. If it was a battle for intimidation, Yixing would have won easily. 

"I'm sorry. For earlier. For hurting you accidentally," said Luhan, real remorse in his voice. 

"Seems you could  _accidentally_ do a lot of harm if you wanted."

"Yixing..." Minseok warned lowly. 

"Alright, alright, I'll drop it," said the spirit mage, his tone just a shade lighter despite his obvious exasperation.

Luhan dropped his head, lips twisting together almost angrily and his fist balled up, clenching tightly. Before he loosened it, visibly calmed down, and turned his head away. He didn't even look at Minseok as they started off again. It burned, nearly rankled Minseok that Luhan just  _knew_ he would follow him. Whether Luhan knew it or not, Minseok was his willing prisoner, following him into the night.

They slept only when dawn emerged. Now sure that they'd put enough distance between them and the dwarves, they slept, trusting that distance and the trap runes Yixing had set up behind them would keep their rear safe and clear. Only Luhan looked reluctant to close his eyes and rest. Jongdae tried to persuade him, claiming first watch, and while the dwarf passed out like a log beside him, Luhan yawned but shook his head. 

"Sleep, templar," Yixing demanded, misleadingly soft. 

"I don't need it-"

"Yes, you do. You're about to hit a waking nightmare state even without magic." 

Minseok held his tongue, and instead of sidling up to Luhan like he would normally do, he crept in between the space of a large aboveground tree root and Suho's conked out form. Luhan hesitated to respond, but Minseok felt flushed when he glanced at him and where he was, before Luhan turned back to Yixing. He opened his mouth, but the mage spoke again first. 

"If you're scared of us, you don't have to be. Minseok will freeze my ass into hundreds of fleshy shards if I did anything to you, _so there. Sleep. Please,_ " he practically grumbled, before turning away and laying flat on his back to rest. "And watch out for forest snakes."

His assurances must have worked, despite the taunt, because Luhan finally relented and found his own tree to lean back against. His eyes slipped shut around the same time as Minseok's. Jongdae woke them up around noon, Luhan only consulting the map Jongin had drawn for him once, before they set off again along the deep forest trails. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Is this it?"

"Are you sure?"

"It seems dark."

Four of them, with Kyungsoo holding back with Alistair, peered through the edge of the forest, crouching along a natural ridge which held a perfect view of a soft meadow below where stood a rustic plank and panel home. Two-stories with an even and proportional, wide layout; a taller structure in the back connected to a barn. The fields surrounding it had been many centuries ago plowed for grazing and farming. 

"I thought you said it was a manor," Sehun whispered. 

Jongin held in his sigh. If the stranger, Kyungsoo as Jongin was trying very hard to think of him as, was correct in what he said, this entire place was a trap. It bore all the marks for it, a silent piece of land, dark house, not a sound coming from anywhere, not even the barn or the pasture beyond. It wasn't supposed to be that way. There should have been druffalos in that pasture, by everything Jongin knew about the lady, his lord's half-sister, Sehun's aunt. 

"We're west of the lake. And this isn't Orlais," Baekhyun whispered back. "Manors out here are practical, Sehun. Not ten-story castles. Although apparently they're ridden with evil-doers."

Yet they didn't see them. Anyone.

"I don't like this," said Jongin.

This should have been the end goal. The finish to their journey. They would stay here until the spring then return to West Hills, returning Sehun to his rightful place as the fourth (and now third surviving) son to the Arl. Edgevalley Manor, their winter reprieve as directed by the Arl himself, but something wasn't right.

"She's not here."

"What?" Baekhyun echoed from where his head was practically shoved beneath Jongin's armpit. 

"Lady Hyori. She hasn't been here in months. Maybe longer."

"I don't understand." It was Sehun's voice, confused and scared. 

Jongin didn't understand either, and that was beginning to eat at him from the inside out. The Arl was a well-informed man. If his sister had gone to Orlais for the winter like she sometimes did, he would have known, and he would never have sent Jongin and his bastard son to Edgevalley, knowing that she wasn't there. Unless there was more going on than Jongin knew about. That thought did not make him happy, but in any case, they could not stay here. They also couldn't return to West Hills. And they also had hired killers to worry about. Jongin didn't like Kyungsoo, but he could not discount the man's warning. 

"What do we do?" Chanyeol's voice was clear, despite the worry threaded in his words. 

"I don't know," said Jongin. 

A twig cracked behind him, frightening everyone, but it was just Kyungsoo crouching bored next to a tree. All of them had their heads down or obscured in case anyone was waiting for them. Anyone, like the ruffian cousins that apparently wanted Sehun dead. Jongin wished now more than ever that they hadn't let Changmin get away.

"I imagine they're here already," said Kyungsoo, although he didn't have to remind Jongin of that.

" _If_  you heard correctly," Baekhyun sniffed. He, however, hadn't taken his keen eyes away from the manor and the fields surrounding it since they first laid eyes on the place. He was tense, body on alert, laying prostrate on the dirt to keep his head low. Jongin crouched just over him. On the other side both Chanyeol and Kris kept a few feet back. 

"I know what I heard," Kyungsoo replied blankly. "This is a fool's errand to even be here."

"We told the others we'd be here though," said Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo huffed. "So? They could be halfway to Orzammar depending on how far the dwarves went. Are you really going to sit here like bait, waiting for the axe-murderers to arrive?"

The problem, Jongin thought, was that they had no backup plan. Returning to West Hills without knowing for sure whether or not an illness had taken over the arling was out of the question. Taking Sehun back to his grandfather's estate east of Denerim was also not an option, not with how far they'd travelled. Redcliffe may be an idea, but there was still Sehun's safety to think about, and since they'd been spotted in that city before, evidenced by the attack that had come not one day later, Jongin doubted they could remain there all winter without incident. Still, it was the best option, and maybe from there he could figure out what was going on in West Hills. 

"I see something!" Baekhyun whispered harshly. Jongin's attention whipped immediately back to the manor. 

"Who is it?" asked Chanyeol.

"Can't tell. Inside the barn though, there is something moving."

"We should leave," Kyungsoo added almost immediately.

Sehun, unsurprisingly, seemed to agree. "I-I... I think we should too."

"Could just be an animal," said Chanyeol, a fair bit unbelieving.

"Or maybe it's Kris' dragon," Baekhyun snarked. 

The qunari actually grumbled at that, but refused to rise to the elf's provocation.  

"What if it's the others though?" Chanyeol continued to run through possibilities. "Luhan and the mages. Jongdae. Suho. What if they got here first? Or what if they never found Suho?"

"You think they'd give up so fast on the dwarf?" Baekhyun asked while Sehun whined. 

"No," said Jongin. And anyways, Xiumin really wanted to get back the ring. Jongin tried hard to not let that nag him, what the mage wanted with the enchanted object, or why it seemed to have something to do with Sehun. "Still, it could be them. We have to investigate."

"I'll go," said Chanyeol. 

"And me," Kris added. 

Baekhyun laughed. "The two of you are the least sneakiest out of anyone here. I'll go, but only if Kyungsoo comes with me."

"Why?" the other one snapped.

"Because I don't trust you, and I'd rather you stayed  _right_  where I can see you."

Kyungsoo snorted, but he didn't put up a fight. "Fair enough. Let's go then. See if you're intelligent enough to survive walking into a trap you know could very well exist."

Jongin held his breath as the two continued to bicker, before quieting themselves and slinking parallel through the trees that wrapped and curved around the pasture, aiming to approach the barn from a different angle. They were out of sight within a minute. Sehun shivered violently beside Jongin, and Chanyeol knelt down to put a hand against his back. 

"What happened to my aunt?" he asked, scared. "Did they... would they have...?"

"The Lady Hyori married into Orlesian minor nobility. She's a widow now, but has family ties on the other side of the Frostbacks. Sometimes, I have heard she spends the winter there," Jongin tried to explain.

"But you said, the letter said-"

"I know what the letter said," Jongin grunted. "But now I'm second-guessing this entire operation, including the letter's validity, and I don't know what to do about that!"

Sehun shrunk away from him cowed, and Chanyeol hissed at Jongin.

"I'm sorry," he added lamely. "I don't mean to frighten you, but it's my job to keep you alive until we can return to West Hills."

"And a right job you're doing at that." Chanyeol was not impressed. "We should go back."

"Go back, where?"

"West Hills. Redcliffe. Anywhere that has walls. I'd almost settle for a vacation at the Circle Tower, if that meant not having to worry about being slaughtered by animals or bandits or assassins in the night."

Jongin smiled to himself. "Luhan would love that.  _Or not_."

"You mean Xiumin would not, therefore Luhan wouldn't?" Chanyeol chuckled in return. The joke had at least diffused their anxiety, for the moment. They waited in silence for a while longer, Sehun breathing shallowly, Kris huffing from having to stay low to the ground.

"They're even with the barn now." Jongin pointed to where Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were just barely visible in the shadows of the forest. A heavy moon lit up the entire field which would unfortunately provide them no cover once they stepped passed the trees. 

A low grumble echoed from the qunari's chest, and Jongin turned to look at him. "What?"

Kris returned his gaze, and then stared back towards the two in the distance, mere pinpricks from this far away. "This trap Kyungsoo speaks of..."

"Yes?"

"How do we know, Kyungsoo himself isn't the trap?"

Sehun bristled at once. "He isn't. He couldn't."

"But how do you know that?"

"Because... he's saved me... many times!"

"Saving you for what?"

Sehun choked up, and Jongin felt alarmed. Not  _from_  what, but  _for_  what? "That doesn't make sense," Jongin uttered. But a lot of things already didn't make sense. Like this entire journey, like being tailed night and day by men with a definite penchant for taking Sehun's life. And with the amount of suspicious characters they've amassed in their own party, it's no wonder their lives are like this. When did Jongin get so complacent, surrounding Sehun with assassins and thieves, apostates, and now a human with the reek of Darkspawn. A character he'd just approved to let follow Baekhyun into what could positively be a trap of his or anyone else's making. 

"They vanished!"

"What?!" Jongin jolted at Kris' words.

"Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. I was watching them, and a second later they literally vanished! Into thin air!"

"That's... how is that possible? You're seeing things." Chanyeol cried out. 

"I'm not! As in, I'm literally not."

"They must have ducked back into the trees," Jongin tried to explain. Even so, he could not see them.

"But they didn't!" Kris continued dumbfounded. "Maybe he wasn't kidding about being sneakier than us."

"What do you mean?" asked Sehun.

"I mean, that vanishing like that is a feat even mages aren't efficient at. But... but... sometimes..."

"Sometimes, what?" Jongin was starting to get worried.

"I've heard there are sects, secret organizations, that have learned the art of invisibility. Spies, assassins, rogues and thieves, those sorts of professions. When I lived under the Qun, we were told stories of such pagans who..." Kris trailed off. 

Chanyeol was near breathless. "Could he have made both of them disappear?"

"Perhaps."

It was telling that in the span of moments, they'd gone from disbelieving Kris entirely, to actually entertaining the idea. Jongin felt they were so confused and scared, anything could be possible now. And he didn't like any of it. Baekhyun hiding such a skill, if it were true, meant trouble. And as if they weren't in enough trouble already, it was about to get worse.

"Found them!" A cry rose up from behind them, and from no one familiar. Perhaps the trap wasn't in the barn, but merely the bait, and the real threat had been behind them all this time. They were cut off from the safety of the forest, the clash of weapons all around, echoing through Jongin's ears, and the shouts of an attacking band. Suddenly nowhere seemed like a safe place to be. 

Jongin grabbed Sehun and yanked him to his feet, already yelling, "Run!" before dashing down the slope of the meadow towards the manor. They raced as fast as their legs could go, Kris and Chanyeol cursing as they kept up. An arrow narrowly missed the back of Jongin's head, and he pushed Sehun to the ground not a moment too soon, before another one missed the exact spot he'd been at. Jongin drew his shield, crouching over Sehun as it deflected another set of arrows. Chanyeol paused just long enough to grab Sehun from the ground, tugging him once again to his feet and shielding him with his body as Jongin blocked himself from yet another wave of arrows. At least several attackers had followed their flight, Kris' longsword already doing battle with a human who looked almost puny next to the giant of a qunari. They used the distraction to keep on running, almost halfway to the house before another set of arrows flew past them but going the other way. 

Jongin very nearly cursed the face of Andraste herself when he thought they were going to die, cut off from two directions like ducks on a lake. But then, "Jongin! Sehun! Hurry, run!" 

It was Baekhyun, crouched in the shadows of the house, his bow already aimed to fire again, and beside him was Kyungsoo wielding a massive crossbow about as big as himself. Jongin heard rather than saw the desperate cry of death when the bolt of the crossbow found its target, another attacker going down in the grass behind him. 

"Inside the house!" Baekhyun called again. 

Chanyeol wasted no time dragging Sehun the final distance towards the manor, and Jongin and Kris followed right on their tails while Baekhyun and Kyungsoo covered them in the air. The door was already open wide from where Baekhyun had kicked it. Jongin paused just long enough to usher everyone inside, fighting off another rushing attacker with his shield, and then he darted through the entryway. Kris slammed it shut a moment later and bolted it with a heavy wooden rod.

It was silent for a moment, everyone panting, and only one loud thump on the outside of the door where one of their attackers crashed against it. He pounded again while Jongin counted heads. They'd all made it inside with no serious wounds, although Sehun looked ready to pass out from where he slumped into the floor. 

"Well, Kyungsoo was right. It was a trap," said Baekhyun with a sharp, although grateful tongue. "We found the steward tied up in the barn. He was making just enough racket to draw our attention."

He paused, startled, when a man outside shouted suddenly, "They're inside! Bring the torches!"

"Those bloody whoresons!" Chanyeol growled. "They pushed us straight here! This  _house_  is the trap!"

"Well, I did warn you!" cried Kyungsoo, bitter and loud.

"How many attacking?" Kris asked quickly.

"More than a dozen?" Jongin guessed.

"At least that many," Kyungsoo agreed, "if not more. Because they were streaming after you as soon as you fled down the field. This house can't possibly withstand a siege." 

At that moment, a rock barreled through one of the windows, shattering the glass and splintering the frame. Sehun screamed and dived out of the way just as a lit torch followed the rock, landed against a rug and immediately lit up the room.

"They're not putting up a siege!" Chanyeol suddenly yelled. "They're going to burn the house to the ground and  _us_  along with it!" 

"Back door, now!" Jongin barked wildly. Another rock careened through another window, a torch catching the curtains on fire this time, as the six of them took off through the center of the house towards the back. A wave of heat brushed across Jongin's face as the flames took shape, gusting and billowing. He caught the whiff of something gaseous and oil based, testimony that their attackers had been prepared for just this outcome. A few lit arrows flew through the busted windows as well. He dodged one and caught another with his shield. It bounced away but caught on an upholstered arm chair instead. Jongin waited, as everyone scrambled from the room, trying to block their escape, but Baekhyun stumbled on a canister and went hurling towards the ground. He shrieked when his head collided with a corner of the wall, and Jongin dove towards him, lifting the elf with one arm around the middle of Baekhyun's body. 

"Up! Get up! You can do it!" Blood streamed from Baekhyun's head, but he obeyed. His feet met the ground where Jongin supported him, half pushing him back towards the center of the house. 

Ahead of them though, Kyungsoo shouted again. "They're in back too!" Jongin heard the clashes of more windows breaking apart, all the while the flames from the front of the house were growing. 

"They're covering us on every side!" Chanyeol echoed a moment later. "We're completely trapped!"

They converged in the center hallway, no way out through any of the four corners of the mansion. With every second passing though, there were more explosions as the torches took root, and flames lit up every wall, curtain, piece of furniture, rugs and more. Jongin froze, sweat pouring across his face but absolutely furious at their situation. So this was the end? Their final destination after all? Himself and Sehun, Baekhyun and Chanyeol, Kris, and their poor mule left somewhere in the trees; even Kyungsoo whom Jongin had doubted. They would die together in a fiery blaze. Already the beams along the edge of the house were crackling, about to collapse with them underneath. 

And then Jongin remembered something. Baekhyun clung to his arm, clutching his head. Sehun cried, practically clawing at Kyungsoo's robes while the shorter man struggled to remain upright  _and_  hold onto the boy sinking against the floorboards. Chanyeol and Kris crowded around everyone, as if their height and bulk could save them all, but only Jongin's brain was working. Only Jongin's memory could possibly save them. An offhand remark he'd heard as a child, a story with a side tale, the Lady Hyori's voice recounting how one winter she'd hidden from a particularly vicious rampaging bear who'd gotten inside her home.

"The basement! There's a basement!" Jongin called loudly, battling the roar of the flames all around. 

"What?!" Baekhyun shrieked in return.

"Here! There is a basement... right..." Jongin almost knocked him over in his rush to pull aside the one rug left in the place that hadn't yet caught fire. The one they were standing on. "Here!" He shoved it aside, beneath which there was a trap door with a heavy metal ring. He reached down to the grab it, but the door was wedged shut, refusing to budge. 

"Let me!" Kris pushed him aside, lending his strength to the door instead which creaked and caught but finally came open. A rank, stale blast of air rushed at their nostrils, but underneath  the door was a stone staircase leading into blackness, and Chanyeol immediately threw Sehun down the steps. Kyungsoo followed, then Baekhyun followed by Jongin, and Kris had just a foot on the stair when all of them froze and panicked and tumbled against one another. 

It was ears-splitting and mind-numbing, the roar that cascaded through the air. Jongin clutched at his ears, but he swore the sound ripping through his body was more painful than being doused in a freezing stream, more vicious than the laps of the fire blazing around them. Probably more violent than being jolted by magic or held within a crushing prison.

Of all the times for Kris' worst nightmare to come to life, in the middle of a burning building from which they had little chance of reemerging, there it was. 

_"Dragon!!"_

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halfway across the field, sword already bloodied from fending off the attackers, as they tried to make their way towards the house through which they'd last seen Jongin and the others flee, Luhan dropped to his knees. His sword and shield hit the earth, hands clutching his head as the dragon's screech pierced through his mind and caused his body to convulse.

"Minseok!" he cried through half-stuck teeth, eyes clenched. He tried to move, tried to open his eyes, but everything was black and dizzying and he could not stand up from the sound of the monster flying above.

He stretched a hand back as Minseok fell next to him. "Luhan!" 

"Minseok we have to... we have to... reach them! We have to save them!" 

He tried again to get to his feet, but his knees would not hold and he toppled once again towards the ground. A burst of flames lit the ground nearby, lighting up a whole string of bodies, their attackers who had also fallen to their feet at the dragon's command. A blast of lava hot air pounded the ground around the dragon's initial target, toppling the one large tree which stood before the manor. 

"Luhan, get up!" Minseok cried. 

But the tree, roots and all, fell towards them, ground caving in as the branches collapsed all around them. Luhan felt a body fling itself over him just as the tree hit the ground with a shudder of earth and dirt and splinters and leaves. They were trapped. 

 


	22. Not More Than I Like You

He smelled smoke, earth, burnt flesh. The stench filled his head, clogging his nostrils and Luhan almost wretched right where he lay. His body convulsed, struggling to move but something was blocking him. Another body which shifted only slightly, and neither one of them could really move.

"Minseok?" he whispered, mind still confused, oblivious to everything else around them. His senses were blocked, trapped, held in tact by the mere fact that he was somehow alive, and so was Minseok. He hoped, he prayed. 

"I'm here," came the mage's voice, small and wavering.

Around them it seemed eerily quiet, as if time had passed and Luhan had no idea what had happened. They'd followed his map right up to the clearing, sensing a fraction of a second before they saw it that something was not right. Watched as a large band of masked, hooded attackers chased down what could only be their lost party members, Jongin and Sehun and Chanyeol and Kris. They couldn't see Baekhyun in the shadows of the house, not until, screeching, Jongdae slid from the horse, daggers by his side as he suddenly lead an infuriated charge down the meadow. 

"Nooo! You! Don't!" Jongdae shouted, blades whirling. Luhan hadn't hesitated more than a second to follow, as it was clear the others were trapped, and they were all wholly outnumbered. With Minseok behind him, Yixing and Suho somewhere behind  _him_ , they rushed the attackers from behind, blocked from reaching the others. But it had been too much. There were too many of them. The battle too fierce. Luhan had dented his shield and maimed a good many men and yet they weren't even close to reaching the house, or to stop the torches from setting it on fire. Jongdae wailed furiously, and Luhan became desperate, fighting alongside Minseok for so long that he couldn't keep count. Nothing mattered, not even himself, but that's when they'd heard it. The dragon. And how he'd come to be trapped under the split tree with Minseok nestled into his side. 

He choked, inhaling nothing but dust and dirt. Somewhere just beyond his hearing range he heard the sound of a dog barking.

"Xiu- Minseok, are you..."

"I'm fine. I think." 

Minseok himself coughed, wheezed, and Luhan tried to rotate to see him. Half of the massive tree trunk lay over them both, held up from crushing their bodies only by the branches that had caught on the ground. A near miss if Luhan had ever seen such a thing, and it was a miracle they were alive. How they had fallen right into the space where they were only pinned, not dead. Something in his memory recalled Minseok shoving him to the ground, seconds before the tree fell. Seconds after the dragon blasted it away. 

The dragon. The dragon!

"Dragon!" Luhan suddenly cried out, terror redoubling in his heart. "Where-!?"

"It's gone, flew off, I think," said Minseok weakly. He sounded feeble, completely unlike himself. Again, a dog barked from far off, but maybe it was closer this time. Other than that, there was no one else except for their voices. No sounds of steel, no battle clashes, just the remnants of a house that had been on fire. 

"How long... ago...?" he asked. 

"Don't k-know... maybe an hour."

An hour they'd been trapped here. An hour in which anything could have happened. Their friends dying in a fiery blaze, a dragon attacking, no trace of Jongdae, Yixing or Suho. An hour that Minseok had perhaps been conscience but unable to move. The mage groaned slightly as Luhan shifted, finally pulling his legs enough to gain leverage against the earth, his templars' robes caught in between branches and leaves, his vision obscured by the overall frame of the tree and all its downed glory. In the darkness he could barely make out Minseok's eyes, closed shut and clenched in pain. Only a hint of moonlight made its way through the debris, enough for Luhan to drag his arm up and cup the mage's cheek, softly. Delicately.

"You... what hurts?" he whispered, as if speaking any louder than that might hurt Minseok more.

His eyes fluttered open, just barely catching Luhan's eyes before he closed them again. "Don't know. Back, maybe." 

"Can you move at all?" Luhan was reluctant to shift him.

"I t-tried... once." 

Somehow, they needed to get out of here. To find out what was going on, what had happened, to fix Minseok. If Yixing was still alive, then maybe he could heal him. 

The dog barked again, closer, frantically, and Luhan finally realized who it was. "Alistair!" he called, and the hound yipped excitedly, even closer this time. "Alistair!" 

Luhan almost fainted in relief, so happy to discover they weren't alone, even if it was just a large mabari hound that knew where they were, buried under tons of tree and wooden debris. "Luhan!?" came another voice, sweetly high and just as frantic: Suho.

"We're here!" Luhan called back. 

"I found them!" Suho shouted after another few seconds, and a voice from a long distance away replied.

Luhan didn't waste his energies anymore. He cupped Minseok's face again, intent on spreading his joy, that someone had found them and they could be dug out of this whole mess. No fire, no dragon, no thieves or villains could get to them this time. "Minseok, hold on," he begged, fingers etching across the mage's face. "Minseok, they're coming to get us out."

Minseok murmured feebly, but his eyes flickered open once more, just the shadow of a smile upon his lips. Luhan's thumb brushed against the outer corner of his lips as he smiled in return. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he whispered.

Minseok's smile only continued to grow, however weak he must have felt. "For what?"

Luhan didn't know. For everything though, probably. He inched closer, as much as his body could move, closer towards Minseok laying on his side, arms curled before him, back and torso twisted from the angle of the branch shoving into him from behind. He looked small and pitiful, not like how Luhan knew Minseok could really be: strong and powerful, fearless, magical. Why was it that the only times he looked like this, vulnerable, were because Luhan had made him this way? 

"I'm sorry," he whispered again, before pressing his lips lightly against the mage's confused smile. 

Minseok didn't respond, not in words. His body though stuttered and his eyes sprang to life, meanwhile Luhan pulled back, unnerved and apologetic, afraid that he may cause Minseok to jolt too much for whatever pain he was in. They stared at each other, frozen in time. 

Then someone else called out, Jongdae's voice this time asking where they were and coupled with Alistair's near consistent barks. "Luhan! Minseok!?"

"We're here!" Luhan turned his head once more in the direction of the man's voice. "Minseok's hurt! Can you get Yixing!?"

A moment later, during which angled his head once more towards the mage, he heard Jongdae shout. "We can't find Yixing yet!"

Luhan balked; Minseok groaned. "What do you mean?!" Luhan yelled. "What about the others!? In the house! Did you get them out!?" 

There was no answer to this for a few minutes. Alistair sounded like he was trying to dig them out, but to what extent Luhan couldn't tell, and it probably wasn't working very well. Suho asked them once again if they were alright, and Luhan replied, but Minseok continued to moan and occasionally whimper if anything shifted on top of them too much. The dwarf was apparently trying to find a way through the downed limbs and debris. Finally, Jongdae returned, but about the others he had no news.

"I can't... I don't know... I can't tell! The whole house is... basically gone!" He sighed, severe frustrating lacing his words. "Only Alistair was here! He came out of the woods suddenly to help us, but Jongdae and Suho and I got caught up in the skirmish trying to run from that accursed dragon, and by the time we could get back... We can't even get past the frame of the house, it's too... hot!" The assassin suddenly cursed and swung something that sounded like a heavy sword. It struck the ground with a clash of metals, and Luhan winced, his arm now curving around the part of Minseok he could reach, as if sheltering him from the blow. 

It took half an hour for Jongdae, Suho, and Alistair to get them out. Luhan and Minseok could do nothing to help except listen in as the assassin and the dwarf bickered at each other, and Alistair kept getting in the way. Eventually, he had to tune them out altogether and pray they could find a way. In the meantime, he had Minseok to worry about. Minseok, who was hurting and confused and when Luhan kept nudging him to keep him awake, almost sorrowfully.

"Luhan..." His voice was so soft. Luhan refused to think about what that meant, but it made his heart flutter to hear and his nerves quench in anguish. "Luhan, I should have told you."

"Told me what?" Luhan whispered back.

"About... about Xiumin."

Luhan sighed, eyes closing softly as he remembered. Why they were here, why there were arguing. "Xiumin... yes. What about him..." 

Minseok stirred, and so Luhan opened his eyes to stare at him again, watching as Minseok almost painfully brought the words to his mouth. 

"He's my brother."

"What?" Luhan asked airily, confused.

"He's my brother. He's a blood mage. He's... everything your scroll said about him."

"The scroll..." Luhan thought back to it.  _Extremely dangerous. Explosion... destroyed his family..._  Essentially a murderer, and still on the loose. "But you're not him. Why... did you say you were him."

"I couldn't figure it out at first." Minseok almost laughed. "Why the templars knew that name. Why you were there at all, looking for him. How you even knew where to go, because... Xiumin, he never stays in one spot for long. He would never have been caught anywhere like that. Me on the other hand..." His breath hitched a few pitches, the debris around them shifting as the others worked. "You knew exactly where to find... me. Because somebody told you where to look... Somebody that was..."

"Xiumin," Luhan finished for him, comprehension starting to kick in. "Your brother tipped off the templars, but lead us straight to you. Why."

Again Minseok chuckled, body barely moving from the strain. "To save himself, why else. You might say... we're not close. He probably never thought I would live even past the initial confrontation. I would die, therefore  _Xiumin_  would die, and his whole record erased. But instead of a whole troop of templars, it was just...  _you_. And honestly, you weren't all that threatening." He smiled.

Luhan flushed, actually embarrassed at the accusation that he hadn't been the brash, stereotypical templar bent on destruction. "Is that why you let yourself be caught?" He sniffed self-righteously. 

Minseok smiled wider, eyes mirthful. "Well, that and Alistair kind of betrayed me." 

"Oh, right. Well, have I mentioned I kind of like that hound?"

"About as much as he likes you, I'm sure." It was surreal, even to be having this conversation, in this state with Minseok wounded, and the dog itself whimpering softly as it tried to dig them out. Jongdae still bickering about dragons and trees and bandits, and Suho being told point-blank that he was now more in the way than Alistair. 

Luhan held Minseok's eyes, his nerves completely bunched up, his arms still on the mage as close, as tightly, as he dared. Yes, he liked Alistair, and the hound was obviously attached to him. "But not more than I like you."

The branches shifted heavily, showering them in dirt, sticks, and leaves. Minseok and Luhan immediately hunched inwards, eyes shut to block out the debris, and then the ray of moonlight that finally shown over them. 

"Gotcha," said Jongdae lazily, before hauling them out, Luhan first and then Minseok's body which they cradled between them. 

The house really was destroyed, nothing left it but a few wood beams still smoldering, and the ground covered in red embers and ash. As Luhan looked, another tiny portion of it collapsed into the embers which sparked a tiny, new fire. Everything was gone, and yet at first glance he saw no bodies. Perhaps there was hope.

Suho suddenly shouted, in fear more than anything else, although there was some surprise in it. He wasn't looking towards the house though. Jongdae lashed around, twin daggers already at hand and Luhan, carefully checking that Minseok was settled on the ground, almost pulled out his sword as well. 

Out of the trees walked a lone figure, hair singed, limping, half of his body covered in burn marks and most of his clothes burned away. He carried a mage's staff limply in one hand. 

"Yixing!" 

The mage collapsed as soon as they spotted him, crumpling into the earth, and Jongdae and Luhan both took off running to get to him. Suho stayed put, rooted to the ground. 

Yixing was a mess. Beat up, partially scorched, exhausted and looking half-dead, and yet he was alive. 

"Is there anyone after you?" Jongdae asked, as he and Luhan lifted him up, supporting him under his arms as they walked him towards Minseok. 

"Took... care of them..." Yixing replied wearily. He had an arrow wound bleeding profusely from his shoulder blade, and he sank back towards the ground, his staff falling out of his grip and rolling away. Yixing sighed. "Staff... get me my..."

Luhan put it in his hands, and each of them stepped back as Yixing appeared to compose himself, drawing from some well of inward strength. His eyes flashed red, then blue, and from his staff a rush of winds surrounded them. All of Yixing's wounds retreated, his burn marks fading, leaving his exposed skin pale and smooth. Then he turned it on Minseok and the other mage healed in the same way. He arched and cried out against the ground but after a moment his breathing returned to normal. Luhan knelt beside him, finally relieved that Minseok looked alright.

"Anyone else?" Yixing asked, his voice still weak and exhausted. 

Between Jongdae and Suho, they all shook their heads, and then turned their attention to the other matter at hand. 

"The house though... we've lost the others," said Luhan. "And we can't even..."

Minseok had the answer. "Let me," he said, crawling to his feet. His bones creaked violently as he stood up and Luhan wrapped his arms immediately around him to steady him. They walked slowly towards the rubble, almost tripping over Minseok's own staff where he'd dropped it earlier, and then the mage held it up. A gust of wind like Yixing's magic swept left to right over the house, cooling the embers until nothing red remained. No coals or smoke, but everything died down. 

It was enough that they could step over it, walk across the foundation, but a quick search brought up nothing. It was perplexing, because each of them knew they'd seen the others escape inside.

"They're not here."

"They could have run out the back," said Luhan.

"No, we would have seen that," Jongdae argued. "And they were completely surrounded. They... they  _have_  to be here!"

"Check the barn," Yixing suggested. 

It was the only structure on the property that was still halfway intact, although parts of it had also collapsed, the walls nearest where the house had blazed in an inferno. Alistair caught up before they did. The hound suddenly bounded towards it, barking wildly and excitedly and in a matter of minutes they all realized why. There was somebody in there, tied up and coughing, evidently since before the fire had been started in the other house. He didn't look like any of the other attackers. On the contrary, his face was bare except for the for the dirt matted upon one side of his face where he'd been laying in the dirt, and his dirty  blonde hair was long and stringy. A strip of cloth had been wound around and through his mouth to keep him from crying out.

Luhan reached him just after Alistair, and the man trembled violently before realizing he was probably under no threat. 

_Heechul_ , he whispered breathlessly after Jongdae severed the knot.  _Steward_. 

"Where are the others?" Jongdae could not spare him a moment more.

"Others?" The man started to cough and sputter, clutching his chest as he stood up, assisted by Yixing who was suddenly by his side. "I was only doing my rounds when some men attacked me and threw me in the barn. _Those others_?" 

Jongdae sighed. "Unlikely," he said. "Did you see anybody else though? Several humans, a qunari, an elf, maybe?"

"I saw only two others." Heechul was starting to gain his footing and balance, aided on by Yixing. "One was an elf. Red hair. The other... small, dark, sick looking. I don't know but his face was kind of-"

"Wait, what did you say?!" Minseok had caught up. "What was he wearing?"

Heechul stared at him, still trying to put memories into words and withstand the sudden interrogation. "I don't... remember? I was kind of tied up and they didn't stay around to chat?"

"Try to remember," said Minseok weightily. His eyes narrowed into a glare that would have frightened Luhan on a good day, let alone on a night when they were in danger of being told half their friends may be dead. It worked apparently on the poor, terrified steward.

"G-Grey robes?"

Minseok swallowed. "They... were together?" 

"Kyungsoo...?" Luhan grasped what they were talking about. "With Baekhyun!?"

Among the rest of them, only Jongdae seemed completely lost. Alistair actually barked at the name, and Suho stared between everyone confusedly, but knowingly, as if he too was putting two and two together, and Luhan didn't know how or why but he didn't seem that surprised, only startled. Neither Luhan nor Minseok though had time to explain this. There was still the matter that Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, Jongin, Sehun, Chanyeol and Kris were missing and their bodies were nowhere to be found.

Finally, however, Heechul was of some help. He staggered towards the ruined house, terrified and sad and bewildered at the rapidly cooled-down state of the embers and when Jongdae explained that they'd seen their friends flee inside the house, before it was set on fire, before the dragon attacked, before they were all knocked out or else lead astray in the skirmish, Heechul's face explored the ruins of his mistress's home. 

"If they're not here..." he shared tiredly, "and you're sure they didn't make a run for the trees.... then there's one other option..." He let go of Yixing's arm which was still holding him up around the waist and shuffled through the ashes. 

"What is it?" asked Minseok, concerned.

Heechul stalled near the center of where the manor had stood, and then knocked heavily against the ruined foundation of the house until they all heard a hollow thunk. "There's a cellar, right about.... here." 

That enticed everyone's hope. Until Heechul added one other fact. "It leads down to a tunnel as well..."

 

 

 

 

 

Kris might have been the last person to drop into the basement, but he was the first person to scramble off the pile at the bottom of the stairs where everyone lay stunned by the dragon's shriek. His bulk was probably not appreciated by the lesser-sized humans, Baekhyun in particular, but Kris had no scruples, not even for cute elves. Not in such dire circumstances when he was certain they were bound to be fried by a dragon attack. It didn't even matter that logically he knew they were safe. The foundation and basement of the manor were lined in stone and fairly solid.

He said  _fairly,_ because even as they scampered on the basement floor trying to get to their feet, the sounds of the house collapsing above them was not reassuring at all. Already the wooden escape door they'd come through was starting to give way, and the heat around it unbearable. Jongin, once he could stand without falling over, his ears now clutching his head as if that was enough to block out the crippling, stun-inducing sounds of the dragon, quickly ushered them away from it, and Kris was the first in line. For good measure, he made sure nobody else was trapped anywhere, and when Sehun darted away and tripped over a box crate, Kris boldly picked him around the middle and hauled him away. If that little deed still held Kris to the contract he'd signed, then he was proud of himself. Dragons, however, were nothing to sit around and discuss.

"There's no way we're going back up there!" he yelled. 

Even Baekhyun seemed to acknowledge it, although the elf looked rather put-out that Kris had been right about something. About the dragon especially. 

They huddled away from the trapdoor as far as they dared, Jongin trying his best to remain calm, meanwhile Sehun cowered silently behind Chanyeol, and even Baekhyun twitched agitatedly every time it sounded like the creature above was sweeping low. The house above them was all in flames. It had to be, there was no other possibility. Which meant they were trapped in the cellar like rats with no way of knowing what was happening above. Would the foundation actually give way, scalding them below? Would the blaze ever stop, only to allow whoever had attacked them to follow suit. They had very little room to maneuver. The whole place was lined with crates and barrels, half of which looked like ale, and some of which Kris had no idea, and no desire to find out. The entire room was a trap just waiting to engulf them. 

Kyungsoo was the one who probably saved them. Kris had no idea who he was exactly, but he was clever and observant. He found the door at the back corner of the basement, and with Jongin and Kris' help they managed to push it open. 

"What direction does this go?" Chanyeol asked unhelpfully, knowing that by the tunnel that was presented to them, they had no way of telling. 

"Does it matter?" Kris asked hotly, already itching to get far and away from the manor, the blaze, and especially the dragon. 

"It doesn't matter," said Jongin. "Let's go." 

A few moments later it was evidently clear they had made the right decision, when another huge thump above them made the entire tunnel shake, stones falling lose against the sides of the man-sized clearing - Kris had to stoop a bit - and a few tons of rubble came collapsing down behind them, blocking off their retreat. If the earth was this unstable here, they had no choice but to run for their lives. 

 


	23. In Search of a Cure

“So, uhm, what do you guys actually do?” the steward, Heechul asked.

Jongdae rolled his eyes. He had been cursing himself for a fool for the last two hours, and if he had a mind, he could technically go back to the last few days. Since the first moment when he became distracted from his task. Although perhaps it went back even further than that.

“We wander. Just like you now,” he answered ahead of Luhan, who had opened his mouth to reply. Neither of the two mages, nor Suho, had bothered to even look up.

“Wander? But, I’m only doing this now because my house—so to speak—has been destroyed and I should really find my mistress to inform her of such."

That left them in silence for a moment, while everybody pondered.

“So, who is your mistress?” Luhan asked finally.

Daybreak was two hours ago, and Jongdae, as well as Luhan, Minseok, Yixing, Suho, and now Heechul, were traveling north. North to where the other end of the tunnel from underneath the manor was supposed to lead out. A cursory check had shown that this end of the secret passageway in the basement was thoroughly blocked. Also, that no trace was to be found of the other half of their party, except for one or two lost arrows, some blood, and Alistair’s firm inclination that they’d definitely been here. No one argued anymore with the hound. He seemed to know its business, of that Jongdae agreed, whether or not it drooled an awful lot. Whether or not he had a grudge on the animal for chewing on one of his dirty socks this morning. 

“You guys really aren’t from around here?” Heechul took his time answering. He was cautious. Jongdae could appreciate that. It just didn’t help them much right now. Not when they had a half-assed answer to why they’d even been here, and the steward, now that his life wasn’t on the line, wasn’t so inclined anymore to share his every secret. He'd just resolutely packed a few things from the one corner of the barn that hadn’t burned down and endeavored to come along for the ride. 

The ‘ride’ consisted of everyone on foot, since their horse was lost somewhere in the commotion. After everything they’d gone through to getting it back, it seemed almost a waste, except that they had the dwarf, and that brought Jongdae back to his point.

He was cursing himself for a fool, getting distracted by a valiant rescue mission. Suho was alive and well, but the others had gotten away. Jongin, Chanyeol, Baekhyun,  _Sehun_. That other qunari mercenary and some moody creature nobody would properly explain whose name apparently was Kyungsoo. It was worrisome. It pulled at his guts in the worst possible way. He was furious with himself for growing so complacent, thinking nothing about a side-quest that would diverge from his main mission. A quick jaunt, and then they’d be back with the rest where he could continue on with his duty.

It was no wonder he hadn’t quite made the cut for the Antivan assassins. He’d been so close, so ambitious, so eager to join the ranks. But then his mentors disagreed, casting him out for having one flaw of nature. It wasn’t even a good one, in Jongdae’s opinion. Not like the others who had betrayed themselves by having too much compassion, or who had not developed the necessary skills and talents. He’d made his mark, hit his marks on the final mission, and he knew he was damned good at what he did. 

Curiosity. That was his flaw. Too curious in things, the world, in humans, in other races… too interested in other beings, that his curiosity might be piqued and thus make him distracted. 

And now he’d gone and proven his mentors true.

“We should cut the talk, and quicken our pace,” he barked out at last, after mulling over his thoughts.

Heechul looked taken aback. Suho frowned and Minseok glanced up. Even Luhan blinked at him, confused.

“Are we in that much of a hurry, really?” Yixing asked, eyes twinkling mischievously. He used his staff like a walking stick, now that the terrain had grown rockier, the trees closer together. It gave him an aura of confidence, as if being in nature came so easily to him, which it obviously did. It also lent him a stuck-up attitude that Jongdae was not used to dealing with in persons other than himself. 

“If we want to catch up, we should be hurrying,” Jongdae answered.

“I’m sorry, but I took you for a curious bystander in the affairs of the party,” Yixing continued to taunt him. “Now all of a sudden, you want to catch up?”

Luhan coughed. “Our friends may be in danger. We ought to reach and rejoin them as soon as possible.”

Yixing smirked, huffing, even as he walked. “Your  _friends_. Minseok, dear, tell us again how long you’ve all been such bosom buddies?” He smiled awfully, though it didn't produce the reaction he was potentially hoping for.

Minseok gritted his jaw, cheeks puffed up in a toothless smile, bored. “A matter of weeks, Yixing. Not that that changes anything. Luhan and Jongdae are right though, for whatever reason they  _want_  to be right. We should find the others and see what happens from there. Don’t like it, leave. No one asked you to come along.”

Jongdae paused long enough to see the smaller mage glance scathingly at the ‘healer’ and almost pondered what may be wrong. If he’d understood it correctly, the two had a history which he’d assumed was friendly. Somewhere between the dragon attacking and now, it felt like they were falling apart. And that was already considering the dynamic Luhan added to the mix, now that they’d discovered Minseok had been lying about some things. Namely, his very identity. 

It was all very interesting. Very curious. And exactly what Jongdae didn’t need cluttering up his life. 

“Half of you might have died horrifically without my help,” Yixing supplied, bitingly. 

It didn't phase Minseok, who very stiffly thanked the mage for his  _help_ , and then staunchly ignored him.

“I can’t help feeling like I’m missing something here,” Luhan spoke quietly. Minseok hushed him, and Jongdae privately thanked him for not trying to further this conversation. It was already more than he could afford to think about.

At least there was Suho to keep him on track. The dwarf scurried along extra fast until he was side by side with Jongdae, his large, two-handed mace slung across his back and so long that it almost touched the stones beneath their feet.

“Don’t worry. We’ll catch up,” he said reassuringly, and smiled.

Jongdae smiled back in return. He always seemed to be doing that when it was Suho with whom he could share it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun hated being underground. Any place where there was no daylight was definitely not okay with him. And this tunnel, wherever it lead, was giving him a headache. 

“We’ve been marching all night!” he complained loudly. Then he winced, as did everyone else, for his voice echoed in the narrow space. Sehun positively stopped and had to clutch his ears. 

“Like the dragon shrieks weren’t enough, now you have to go and shout?” said Kyungsoo wryly from up front.

“Hush, everybody,” said Jongin.

Baekhyun gave it ten more seconds before whispering this time. “We’ve been marching all night!” 

“I thought your priority was to get out of here quick.” Of course Chanyeol would have to mention that. Baekhyun sighed. Yes, he wanted to find a fresh source of air and sun again. Yes, he wanted very much to get out of here. But he couldn’t deny that somewhere in the scuffle of running for their lives, surviving a fire and fleeing a dragon, he’d hurt his leg. He doubted anybody had actually noticed it. He was pretty good at faking it, and in the darkness with only one lit torch between them, nobody saw his occasional limp. 

_Where was a mage when you really needed one_ , he thought to himself.

“At least you can walk upright,” Kris snorted from the back of the line. 

Oh yeah, at least Baekhyun didn’t have to stoop part of the time. He laughed, getting enough enjoyment from the qunari’s pains that it temporarily alleviated his own. 

“Maybe, we should stop for a bit?” Sehun inquired weakly. 

By the time Jongin agreed—another hour later—practically everyone was rejoicing. All except for Kyungsoo who had an uncanny ability to see better in the dark than they did, and seemed pretty comfortable below grounds.

_Darkspawn?_  Baekhyun wondered again. Now that he considered it though, it didn’t quite make sense. Nothing did. He missed Xiumin. At least the mage had always been on the same page as himself, clever and knowledgable, although when it came to Kyungsoo, Baekhyun had his doubts. 

And now they had a doubtful human being-potential tainted creature in their midst with way more of an advantage than they did, and the thing was currently wielding a crossbow. Baekhyun wanted to protest it, but after all Kyungsoo had picked it up at the manor before all hell broke loose and turned it on their attackers. He’d participated in their battle and hadn’t killed one of them yet. Given his silent, stalker-ish history too, this wasn’t the first time.

“Should we… keep an eye on him?” Baekhyun whispered to Jongin while Kris struggled to mount the torch somewhere upright so they could get some sleep. He noticed that Sehun was keeping his distance from just about everyone. The aftermath of a whole night’s worth of adrenaline. The boy’s eyes though were particularly curious about Kyungsoo. Even without speaking aloud, Baekhyun knew Sehun was… intrigued.

“What do you think?” Jongin turned the question around, a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder to keep their talk close and confidential. Baekhyun held in a shiver from the proximity, feigning a cool and collected air as he attempted to shrug. The motion nudged Jongin’s hand a fraction closer to his neck above the seem of his shirt. 

“I don’t think he’ll harm us? But that doesn't mean I trust him yet.”

“Me neither,” Jongin agreed. “Someone should always be on watch alongside him, if it comes to that. At this point, once we get aboveground, or should these tunnels prove to channel out, we don’t have enough men to not accept his help.”

Baekhyun nodded.

“Now though,” the other warrior continued, “if only we could figure out his motives?”

Kyungsoo’s motives for the night, however, turned out only to be informing both Chanyeol and Kris that they were about to sleep too close by. The two warriors flinched and nudged their pallets away, and when Sehun tried to offer Kyungsoo something of his, Baekhyun almost stepped in to intervene. It proved pointless when a second later Kyungsoo refused any dose of comfort. He opted to sit up against the curving rock wall, one knee perched up in he air, and he pulled his hood over most of his face before reclining back. He cast an eery shadow, one that made Baekhyun almost shiver again. Until he realized Jongin was drawing him down to sleep. 

Nothing else haunted them that night, or morning. They had no way of knowing really, without aid from the sun. A rest was a rest though, and Baekhyun welcomed the chance not only to relieve some of his headache but also the pain in his sorely twisted knee, all with Jongin snoring softly by his side.

 

 

 

 

 

Curiously, the other entrance to the tunnel wasn’t too far from the King’s Highway, according to Heechul. The steward would not elaborate too much, but Minseok guessed it had to be an old—or not so old—smuggler’s passageway. They were more than halfway to Orzammar by the time the road met up with the highway, but still nowhere near the entrance.

“Are you sure he’s not leading us a merry dance?” Luhan suggested once, covertly when Heechul seemed occupied harassing Jongdae about the names of the assassin’s daggers. 

“There’s always that chance, but what choice do we have?” Minseok sighed. 

He wished he didn’t have to think about such things. He wished his head would stop spinning, period. The last day. The last two days. All of that was more than he could take in. Realistically, Minseok knew he’d had a very close call with the falling tree and the dragon fire, but though Yixing had healed his body, he hadn’t healed his mind. It still tingled mercilessly. His confession about who he was, about his brother, and the trust he’d thus placed in Luhan’s hands. A templar whose motives Minseok really didn’t know, other than that Luhan liked him, somehow, in some way. 

Was it enough though?

Was a tentative kiss and rushed, whispered words enough? 

He refused to think about it, absolutely refused to talk about it. He still blushed furiously red whenever he caught Luhan looking at him, the templar’s eyes blinking bashfully and glancing quickly away. 

Yixing was furious at him, but then Minseok wasn’t too happy with him either. In fact, he wished the elf ‘healer’ had never joined them. Maybe it was for Minseok’s own good, as Yixing liked to pretend, but then Yixing was rarely so selfless. Everything he knew about the mage spoke volumes to him having other interests and while he doubted it was for harm, that didn’t necessitate that everything Yixing did would technically  _help_  them either. Yixing didn’t like Xiumin, Minseok’s brother. But that was more… personal, if Minseok dared say it. Either way, it all made for a very awkward dynamic. Two mages, one templar, one assassin and a poor dwarf caught in the middle. Minseok almost liked Suho best right now. He was the only one there with truly no set agenda, at least none that Minseok could see. Even Luhan had an agenda.  _Had_  an agenda. Whether he still did, who knew, but Minseok hoped he didn’t anymore. 

“It’s about a half day’s walk from here, I think?” Heechul interrupted his musings. 

Now that they were back on the King’s Highway, there were a lot more travelers going south either from Orzammar or Gherlen’s pass from Orlais. Merchants, mostly, some shadier than others. A few genuine or perhaps not-so-genuine civilians journeying for some reason or another. 

One such group was a family whose wagon had fallen into mud and gotten suck. Suho begged that they stop and help, and the two groups traded careful stories while they worked: Luhan explaining that they'd "heard" a dragon (a little white lie because of the children, two little boys tagging along behind their father). The family in turn shared a tale that they'd heard from some other people who had heard from other people that there were werewolves about. Yixing scoffed; Suho started shaking again. 

"No need to fret," said Jongdae when they were back on their way again. "Werewolves are just a myth, and an overdone one as well. I've traveled the world much in the last few years and I'm certain there are no humans who turn into wolves at the full moon." He threw one of his daggers (Isabella) up into the air in a showy motion, a winking glint in his eye that did nothing to calm down the dwarf.

"Well, I might agree with you there," said Yixing. 

"You... do?" Luhan asked cautiously. 

"Of course! No  _humans_  that I've ever heard about could turn into wolves. Elves, on the other hand... well, with a bit of magic, stranger things have happened."

Suho stared at Yixing like he might transform any second. Minseok caught him around the shoulders to ward him off, chuckling a bit. Luhan frowned, either at Yixing's word's or at Minseok, he didn't care to ask to confirm.

"Interesting," said Heechul, who hummed. "Anyways, please spare me the details. Almost dying in a burning barn was bad enough. I don't need to add werewolves to my list of  _things to nightmare over_." 

Perhaps he should not have spoken too soon. Only an hour afterwards, Luhan halted. Minseok, who was walking behind him, almost stumbled right over him. 

"What? What is it?" said Jongdae, recognizing immediately Luhan's defensive stand. Yixing too had startled, and a chill ran down Minseok's spine. He pulled his staff at the same time as he other mage. Heechul ducked down, cowering next to Suho, for in the next second they all seemed to feel it. The chill in the air, the quiet of the forest. The odd lack of anything else around them. There were no birds, no insects, no small animals. Alistair started to growl, and Minseok gently nudged him into silence.

"Something... something is wrong here," he answered instead of Luhan.

Of course though the templar had felt it, the stink of magic, very powerful, lingering magic. Grey and vaporous perhaps if it could be seen, and yet it was invisible. The fragrance hung in the air, and in another few seconds they all saw why. Alistair actually sunk to his haunches and whimpered when through the trees on their left a giant beast appeared. Taller than a normal man by double the size, walked a great, ferocious wolf. It stood like a man, back legs bowed to support its torso, front paws hanging down. Two more just like it appeared at its side, all of them with the same dark brown fur. 

Luhan's shield went up without another pause. "Halt right there!" he shouted. Beside him, Minseok held his staff aloft, waiting to either strike or defend. And then three more wolves crept in from behind the first. 

He'd been right. Something was indeed wrong here. But the wolves, the werewolves, were not attacking.

"Humans! Elves!" said the darkest, largest wolf. It was a husky, human-ish voice, heavily accented and vaguely feral sounding. 

Another one sniffed the air hopefully, opening its jaw. A long tongue dripped past his fangs, dark and marred from use, drool splattering in its mouth. "And, a dwarf," he huffed.

"What do you want?" Luhan demanded. The templar shuffled bravely a half step towards the beasts, thereby covering the two most defenseless members of their group, Heechul and Suho, with his shield. 

"Which one is the mage?" said a third, pretending like Luhan never spoke.

Minseok froze, everyone staring at either him or Yixing. Luhan's defensive stance shifted once again, this time encompassing as much of Minseok as he could cover. Only Yixing did not tense up. He slowly lowered his staff and took a step away from the group, not towards the werewolves but more to separate himself.

"I am," he said, a small grin appearing on his lips, eyes slanted in curiosity. "You are looking for... me?"

All six wolves' postures adjusted to face him, and once again a chill ran down Minseok's neck. The beasts mumbled between themselves, as if sizing up Yixing. Meanwhile, the elf mage stood silently, letting them look, completely unhindered by the situation. 

"Is he the one?" one of the wolves whispered huskily to each other.

"I don't know? Junhyung, is he?"

"Is he the one we..."

"Got to be!"

"Are you sure? But, look at his ears-"

"Shhh, Dongwoon. Hush."

"What? I don't think it was an elf though."

"Does it have to be an elf? Doojoon, what do you think?"

"I don't know?"

"Won't any mage though do?"

"I don't think that's how it works..."

"But-"

"Yoseob, are you sure you heard right? That it was a mage who cured-"

"Well it was definitely a mage but-"

The longer the wolves talked, the more confused everyone became. Both of Jongdae's daggers went back into his belt, his head tittering to the side, jaw open. Heechul boldly stood up again and hovered behind Suho. Luhan's shield moved a tiny bit downwards and Minseok practically snickered when one of the smallest wolves, Kikwang, was smacked on the snout by his fellow for suggesting they just turn around and go home. By the time Yixing purposefully drew their attention back to him, even Alistair was yawning into his paws. 

"Excuse me, but are you looking for some kind of... help?" Yixing offered casually, now the six giant werewolves had turned more into six squabbling children.

"Help?" said the one they'd gleaned was called Junhyung and who seemed to be their de facto leader.

"Help," echoed another one. "Yeah, yeah. Help would be good!"

"We want to be cured!" 

"We want to be human again!"

"We heard a mage could help us, but... we don't know which mage did it."

It took another few minutes to determine that the wolves had been human once, sometime in the indeterminate past. 

"We were cursed! Long time ago!" Dongwoon cried.

"Yeah, and we thought we'd be like this always but then, but then..." Yoseob's voice trailed off, and Doojoon picked up where he stopped.

"But then, we heard of another wolf, and he... was turned back. We just don't know the whole story and..."

"Please, can you help us?"

Yixing took over all the negotiation after that, plying them for information, especially for the wolf that had been turned back to human, the only person who had met the mage who ended up helping him. The wolf/now human hadn't even been part of their pack. A lone wolf, he'd been, only coming into contact with this pack of beasts sporadically over decades.

"But then we found him, and he was... a boy once again. And he wouldn't say exactly what had happened but he..." Kikwang looked at them sadly, raising his front paws as if wishing they would turn back into hands already. When they didn't, and when Yixing didn't have an immediate answer, or in fact, a cure, he grew even sadder.

"Can you tell us where you saw him last?" Minseok said. "This, boy? Do you know his name at least?"

Junhyung nodded eagerly. "We can! If, you'll promise to help us somehow? He was heading north to Orzammar. Tao, was his name."

 


	24. Smells Like Wolf

"Sunlight!" Baekhyun cried out, and everybody proceeded to cover their eyes for the blinding white light they'd emerged into. The entrance to the tunnel on this end was hidden behind a particularly thick patch of shrubs and overhanging vines. On the outside, as Sehun observed, it was almost impossible to tell that it was there. It was like any other rock wall beneath a jutting ridge wall and pretty cleverly designed. 

"Lovely," said Kyungsoo wryly. "I think I almost miss the dark now."

They all did for a few minutes, adjusting poorly to being underground for longer than a day. With the exception of Kyungsoo, however, it was clear that most were at least happy to be back on the road. Only dwarves and darkspawn dwelled underground with any perfect clarity of mind, Sehun thought. In fact, he'd once asked Suho about it and the dwarf had recalled how strange it was to first behold the sky. How he'd clutched the ground as if gravity might fail and he'd fall into the great blue expanse. 

It was blue today, and cloudless, no wind to give them breath and each of them stunk from the cramped, damp passageway. 

"Any chance there'll be a stream nearby?" Chanyeol sighed, still shielding his eyes from the sun as they glanced about. "Do you think we're still parallel to Lake Calenhad?"

"Let's hope we are," said Jongin. "We're low on water supply anyways. Let's see if we run into it."

They did fortunately, only a slight jog east and the feeling of the water when Sehun sunk into, shirtless and shoeless, was mesmerizing. At least until Chanyeol dived in afterwards and splashed murky water over everything. The bottom of the lake surface sunk in beneath his toes and Sehun squirmed uncomfortably, trying to gain his balance. Jongin and Baekhyun waded in separately, and that left only Kris and Kyungsoo back on dry land. They coaxed the qunari finally into joining them, specifically because Baekhyun said he wouldn't go one step further on the road with a giant that smelled as bad as him. And then it was only Kyungsoo.

In between Chanyeol laughing, and Jongin and Baekhyun flirting, Sehun glanced covertly at the smallish, darkened person of the stranger. He was sitting on the bank, resolutely not stripping more than the hood from off his shoulders. His black hair looked seriously greasy and matted, face as splotchy as ever, and he'd taken off the pair of gloves so that his hands were bare, but no more than that. Sehun wondered if his whole body was like that, ashy, contagious. Then Kyungsoo caught him looking, and instead of the glare Sehun expected to receive, he saw only blankness, Kyungsoo observing him just as casually in return. Sehun looked away quickly, sank beneath the surface of the water to rinse his hair, and when he emerged he didn't dare to look back. His heart beat a little out of turn, but he took deep, calming breaths to steady the rhythm and pretty soon, Kyungsoo was forgotten. Almost.

It was Jongin who took the first initiative. Sehun watched when a few minutes later, the leader of their party marched out of the water with a large damp cloth in his hand. Kyungsoo shied away at first until the warrior paused a foot away, merely offering it to him. 

"Here," said Jongin. "If you're not going to get in the water, then have this." 

He was rewarded with a slight, cautious smile, and Sehun instantly wished it had been him on the receiving end, not Jongin. But then, he'd yet to actually offer anything to him yet. With this in mind, he glumly arose from the lake when the others did and pretended to not notice Kyungsoo wiping his face and hair with the sopping wet rag. He did pay attention to whether any marks came off on the cloth, or if Kyungsoo's face appeared any healthier, but there was nothing. Just a slightly brighter sheen from the moisture and his hair now sat slickly against his head. Then Kyungsoo pulled his hood up again, donned his gloves, and nothing more was said on the matter. 

Sehun was halfway to putting on his shirt again when the air grew stale, stiller than even before. As if an invisible pall of smoke had entered the forest, wafting right up to the banks of the lake, and everybody noticed it. 

"Something's... weird," said Baekhyun. 

A nervous energy, curious scent. Something.

"Nothing's moving either," Chanyeol noticed. A few leaves rustled softly, but apart from that, nothing. No birds, nor animals seemed to be moving at all, hidden away in whatever cubby holes they could find. Even the few small fish near the short seemed to scatter in a hurry. A branch snapped. Something which before, everyone of them would have attributed to Kyungsoo moving in the shadows, except that he was still standing beside them, still as the rest, eyes roving curiously through the trees. 

Another branch cracked, then a few slow footsteps sounded behind the trees, as if something was approaching, something just as scared of them as they were of it.

"Who goes there!?" Jongin called out, and the footsteps paused. They waited with bated breaths a few more seconds, hands reaching for weapons at an achingly slow pace.

Again, the footsteps moved, and Sehun saw a cautious arm reach behind one of the taller trees as the barest glimmer of a person's head poked around it to see.

"Hello?" came a soft voice, scared, hesitant, lost. More of the body peered out at them, a long drawn-out face, dirty, sun-tanned skin and blond hair dripping lengthily across his forehead. He wore no shirt, and from the side of his hip, it appeared that he had no clothes at all. 

"Hello? Baekhyun echoed softly back. "Who are you?"

He didn't answer, only dipped his head more to the side to get a better view of the six figures observing him. Baekhyun suddenly smiled when the boy's hair fell to the side revealing a long tapered ear. "An elf."

"An elf that smells like a dog," whispered Kyungsoo sharply, and the boy almost recoiled behind the tree.

"Alistair would take offense at that, if he were here," said Baekhyun. He was already forgoing his bow and stepping towards the tree line, towards the boy who looked about as tall as Sehun. "What's... what's your name?"

Jongin tensed up, ready to assist if need by except he didn't seem to know how. 

Softly, Baekhyun coaxed the boy to come out from behind the tree, Sehun watching with baited breath as he gently held out his hand as if to an orphan child and then lead him closer to the water.

"Tao," is what he finally uttered, eyes dancing around somewhere between curiosity and suspicion. Beyond that, he was somewhat trusting. 

"Are you lost?" Jongin asked. Turning to the others, he directed somebody to find a set of clothes that might fit him. Sehun's wardrobe won the toss. 

"I'm, not sure?" said Tao.

The others pondered this for a while, Kyungsoo raising his eyebrows and muttering, "He's... not sure if he's lost or not? Huh."

 

 

It was all very underwhelming after the feeling of having someone sneak up on them unawares and bearing such a strange, ominous atmosphere. Sehun wished they'd had Alistair to scope him out, but after a few minutes of questioning, Jongin deemed him harmless enough.

"Where are you from?"

"The forest."

"Which forest. This one?"

"No, not this one."

"From some other forest?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Do you have family?"

"I think I did."

"And do they live around here?"

"I think they were in the forest I came from."

"And where was that?"

"I don't remember."

Tao didn't remember a lot of things apparently. He was also more reticent about answering some questions than he was others, like how he got here, what he'd been doing, if he'd seen other people, how long he'd been traveling, why he was naked, and even what season it was. Almost winter, and he was only shivering the tiniest bit. His skin was warm, flesh like a newborn's without any signs of prolonged exposure. His eyes though were almost feral, and his mannerisms... less than elven.

"Even Kyungsoo acts more normal than he does," Sehun caught Chanyeol whispering to Jongin. Baekhyun was currently occupied testing the boy's reflexes, a curious examination since Tao didn't quite like standing up. He crouched on the ground, or sat on the ground, legs scattered in every direction, more like a toddler than a teenager, as his body seemed to signify. 

"Like an animal," Jongin whispered back. Tao sniffed the air more than he spoke. He was leaning in close to Baekhyun, as if through his nose he could scope out more of what Baekhyun was. The red-haired elf didn't even act bothered by it. Instead, he continued asking questions, trying to narrow down if Tao was from any lost elven community or just a straggler on the road. They couldn't hear their soft conversation from this distance, but Jongin seemed especially tense every time Tao touched Baekhyun: one hand curiously poking the other elf's small biceps or exploring his ears, like he'd just discovered they were the same race.

"Curious..." said Chanyeol. 

Sehun didn't notice Kyungsoo standing next to him until the smaller individual spoke, a soft gloved hand on his elbow, diverting his attention.

"Sehun..." he said, while Sehun jumped almost a foot into the air. Kyungsoo quickly withdrew his hand. "I'm sorry. I frighten you, don't I?" He didn't back away though, something Sehun was actually kind of pleased about, despite the temporary scare.

"No... no, you don't." He didn't sound convincing, even to his ears, and Sehun smiled blandly, trying to communicate this.

Kyungsoo smiled too, his eyes still, cheeks barely moving, lips glued together. Maybe before it might have been frightening, how pale and arresting was his face, how alien and strange. It still was, just a little bit. It would have been worse though, had Sehun known nothing about him. Small facts added up in his mind, all the times Kyungsoo had been near, helping them, hiding from them, visiting with him in secret, killing beasts or...  _men_  that would have harmed him. And them. 

"Okay, just a little," Sehun amended, embarrassed by his own doubts. He fingered distractedly at the plain rope necklace he'd worn since childhood, a comforting token that he almost never took off. The stone hanging off it was a mundane gray rock, but his grandmother had gifted it to him as a birthday present before she died. The rough surface against the tips of his fingers was familiar. Kyungsoo's gaze along his collarbones was not. He gaped, dropping his hand, and then picking it back up immediately to adjust the collar of his shirt, just a hint of a blush upon his cheeks, probably. Kyungsoo's mild smile turned into a mild smirk and then he finally, finally took a step away to give Sehun room to breathe.

"That boy, Tao," Kyungsoo spoke a little louder, enough for Jongin and Chanyeol and even Kris to hear. 

"What about him?" Jongin asked.

"He's interesting right?" He spoke like he knew something. Jongin stepped closer to listen, glancing over his shoulder to double-check that Tao was still occupied with Baekhyun. He cocked his head at Kris, begging the qunari to get closer and keep an eye on them. Then he and Chanyeol closed in ranks with Sehun and Kyungsoo. 

"What do you know? How do you know?"

Kyungsoo's eyes glistened. "I don't know. But I suspect."

"Suspect what?" said Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo sniffed, imitating the same motion that Tao was now known for doing. "He smells... different."

Chanyeol rolled his eyes. "You're one to talk. Like what?"

"Like a wolf." 

Jongin's jaw grew tense, Sehun's fell down. Chanyeol rolled his eyes again. 

"Why do you say that?" Jongin whispered cautiously. 

"Not a regular wolf. I'm just saying, there's something... disturbed about his whole being. I can sense it. It's more than smell, but there's a lingering magical aspect on him that's... intriguing." 

"And how do you pick up on lingering magical aspects?" Chanyeol scoffed.

Sehun, however, was already craning his neck suspiciously at Tao, still sitting on the ground speaking secretly with Baekhyun who hadn't even noticed the other four watching them, or Kris lurking behind him. Jongin seemed twice as nervous, either because of Kyungsoo's words or because of Kyungsoo's apparent know-how. 

Their short reverie was then interrupted by Baekhyun himself. The elf had gasped loudly, and the four of them gaped, stunned as if Tao had hurt him, but Baekhyun was completely alright and it was now Tao curling in on himself like he was now in danger.

"Jongin! Jongin, come here!" Baekhyun waved his hand madly into the air, not even looking in their direction. His eyes were trained on Tao who looked worried, scared, biting his lip and then part of his hand in his mouth. 

"What is it?!"

"Baekhyun, what's the matter?"

They crowded around them, Kris already standing back in shock from what had evidently been spoken.

"He... Jongin, he said he was a werewolf."

"What!" Jongin shrieked. "He's a werewolf?!"

Only Kyungsoo didn't seem excited.

"I said  _was_ , not is. That's why he can't answer anything properly. He doesn't remember clearly anything before he was turned into a werewolf."

Tao whimpered, like he was terrified of Baekhyun spilling his secrets, however, he didn't do anything to stop him. 

Jongin gulped. "Uhhm, can you perhaps... explain that?" he said to either Tao or Baekhyun, and the latter answered for him.

"He was cursed... a long time ago and... get this," Baekhyun paused dramatically. "He was just cured and turned back into an elf."

Kyungsoo frowned. "By who? Who cured him?"

Baekhyun hadn't gotten this far apparently. They peered at Tao, waiting on an answer, and the boy cowered for a moment before sitting up more upright and he sighed nervously, opening his mouth to speak. "A mage... I don't remember where I was but, he was terrifying... I thought he was going to attack me... Most people do even though I've never bothered people before!" He added this like an afterthought, intent on persuading them he was not dangerous. The mage, however, according to his tale,  _was_. Smaller than him, with evil in his eyes, a humorless chuckle. Through Tao's story, he came alive like a fairytale villain, and how much of it was fact or just a product of Tao's frightened mind, they could not tell. Just that the mage had left him cold and alone, newly returned elf with no idea about what to do next, and besides that, he'd given Tao quite an impression of a dark sorcery.

Baekhyun had to hold onto his shoulder to make Tao even speak further, nudging him gently for more details of what he looked like, when he thought he'd last seen him, how many sunrises had it been since then, and all of that painted a further picture of there being a very powerful rogue on the loose and not that far from where they were.

"Did he have a name?" Jongin crouched down on the other side of Tao and softly asked the question.

Tao nodded, shuddered, and then hesitantly spoke out the syllables: Xiu-Min.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Minseok?" 

Luhan's soft voice trailed across his sleeping form, the templar's head inches away from the back of Minseok's neck. His breath tickled the hairs there and Minseok fought the urge to either move away or edge back closer. Alistair warmed his front, paws tangled up in Minseok's blanket, Luhan in the back. Yixing was keeping watch on the other side of the fire while the others slept. 

"Hmmm?" 

Luhan didn't answer, already halfway nodding off. 

"Luhan?" he prodded.

The man dozed a second longer before sighing awake. "What?"

Minseok laughed silently. "Nothing. You said my name, that's all."

Luhan had to think about it. "Oh. Right. I was going to ask something." Except, he didn't ask anything. Instead he shifted on the pallet, bringing him even closer to Minseok, and his hand crept onto Minseok's waist resting there gently. It reminded him of the first few nights they'd spent side by side, when Minseok was still a prisoner en route to the Circle Tower, and Luhan kept their wrists tied together at night. They were just as close now, but it was by desire and not necessity. 

"Luhan?" he prodded again, and the weight of the templar's hand responded for him, clutching his side just a tiny bit more. 

"Mmm, sorry," Luhan murmured, happily drawing his chin onto the crook of Minseok's neck. "Maybe... I just like saying your name. Your  _real_  name."

Minseok hummed, not trusting himself to respond with anything less than a crack in his voice. 

"Minseok?"

He hummed again. 

"Where do you want to go?" Luhan whispered sleepily, genuinely curiously. 

"What... do you mean?"

"I mean, if you had a choice, and you could go anywhere... where would you like to go?"

Was it hypothetical, or was Luhan really asking? Did it even matter? 

"I don't know... maybe, Tevinter? They like mages there."

Even without seeing his face, he could feel Luhan grimacing. "Hmmm, don't go there. The people from the Imperium are... odd."

"You speak like you have a bias," Minseok teased him. "Man from Nevarra. Don't you like you northern neighbors?"

Luhan squirmed. "You caught me," and then he smiled. Minseok caught just a clip of it in his peripheral vision. 

"I don't know. Maybe Orlais, or somewhere beyond?" Minseok amended his suggestion, his dreams. 

"I've never been to Orlais," said Luhan, now snug against his back. 

They let the seconds tick on, minutes finally, and he was certain Luhan must have been asleep when he added onto his original statement. "Once upon a time I just wanted to live like normal in the Wilds... Now, I just want to be any place far away where my brother can't find me."

He startled when Luhan spoke. "Your brother? Xiumin?"

Minseok's heart started beating rapidly when he confessed, "Yes."

It could be his imagination, but he was fairly certain Luhan was wrapping around him even more tightly, protectively. "What's he like... your brother?"

"Xiumin?" he stalled.

Luhan hummed this time, urging him on, although both were near to falling asleep. Somewhere past the trees and the road he could even hear the sounds of the six werewolves snoring loudly, their desire to become human keeping them around longer than expected. Yixing vowed he would try to lead them off in the morning until he had an inkling of what could be done for the restless pack. Monstrous beasts they looked like, although on their own, no more dangerous than a pack of squabbling puppies. If threatened, they'd be a force to be reckoned with, and yet not one of them scared Minseok more than his brother did.

"Scary. Just a bit mad. Something of a genius. Cunning. Used to be a sweet kid. Before-- Did I mention he looks just like me?"

 


	25. On Two Conditions

Jongin did not like the expressions on either Baekhyun's or Chanyeol's faces. The nervous, halfway hidden gestures on the first, the open-faced scowls on the latter. The three of them stood huddled slightly away from the vicinity of their newest 'friend', as Tao had immediately started calling them, recognizing just enough emotion and empathy to have him practically cleaving onto Baekhyun's form. 

"This isn't good, Jongin," Baekhyun said now, eyes darting back behind him where Kris was set up on guard duty. It was more akin to Kris standing stoically gruff while Tao tried curiously to reach for his horns, eyes alight in wonder. He seemed mesmerized by anything out of the norm, Kris' large stature almost no different than his belief that Kyungsoo's hands must really be green. The second the smaller man had pulled off his gloves to show that his hands were made of skin like the rest of his body, Tao had grown even more fascinated. He had a grayish print now against his nose where he'd tried to sniff Kyungsoo's palm.

"Not good at all," Chanyeol reiterated, although he certainly didn't need to. Jongin knew as well as they did that the situation was... beyond worrisome. A mage that could transform something:  _cure_  or not, it was powerful, terrifying magic. 

"Not only are we left now with a boy who acts more like a wolf than an elf, what... what exactly is Xiumin playing at?" Baekhyun wondered aloud, gaze still set firmly on Jongin, as if questioning his motives, and not the mage's. 

"I..." Jongin hesitated.

"I think the mage is not what we should be focusing on here. If we run into him again, we'll deal," Chanyeol interrupted. "Our main priority though is as it always was: Sehun. We're already far off the mark on where we're supposed to be. If we can't find him a safe spot to rest for the winter, then we're doomed. Him, and us if we fail."

Jongin agreed with just about all of that; Baekhyun, did not.

"So, we're just going to wait until we come up against Xiumin again? See what other secrets he may have been hiding? I don't know about you, Chanyeol, but a mage that can do what he did to Tao seems tricky, and just a bit too clever for what our 'friend' has been claiming. And, this happened a little too recently, and too close for comfort."

"He's a friend though," Jongin put in. "And close, as you say. Which means the others might be close too."

"Close to what!?" Baekhyun said. "Us? Orzammar? A hole in the ground tunnel? Jongin, we don't have a plan. We didn't have a back-up plan. They don't know anything more than we do, and all we're going on is that fact that Sehun's aunt wasn't home, so we're going north. Why? I don't even know!" The elf huffed and practically threw his hands up into the air, frustrated beyond what Jongin had seen before.

"They were going to meet us at the manor."

"That's only half the question, but it's a good start. The manor, Yes. The manor, which likely burned to the ground. How do you even know they got there? Or went there at all?"

"Because they said they would."

Baekhyun sighed again, rolling his eyes this time, and Jongin could see Chanyeol beginning to side with him. "Who said. Who agreed. Luhan, the besotted templar? Xiumin, the blood mage, probably, likely? Jongdae the wandering assassin? Yixing, the apostate who almost killed Sehun?" Baekhyun stood now with his hands on his hips.

Chanyeol's lips tweaked, but his seemed also lost for words, and since the others, including Kris, Kyungsoo, and Sehun, were occupied conversing with the wolf-boy, Jongin let the seconds take over while his mind turned and he stared intently at the ground. They weren't far from the opening of the tunnel; they were definitely way north of the manor and grounds. Behind them was an open road where bandits and assassins (the ones who actually tried to kill Sehun) likely awaited, as well as a dragon and a lot of unanswered questions.

Baekhyun let him have the moment of silence, sighing as well as he frowned and looked upset. 

Finally, Chanyeol broke through the air. "At least Suho seemed like a nice dwarf."

Jongin laughed. So too did Baekhyun, for a least another few seconds. Then he said, "Yeah. But Suho was kidnapped by the Carta, and we don't even know if they got him back alive. Jongin, we can't wait on the others. It's too dangerous if we do." He spoke softly, and Jongin knew he was right, even if he didn't want him to be. 

"I know," Jongin sighed, still stalling for time.

Baekhyun took a step closer, Jongin flinching minutely as the shorter elf placed a hand gently against his arm. "Look, I know you liked Luhan and you wanted to wait for him. But Jongin, we don't know where they are. We don't know who they are. We've already got a hired qunari mercenary, a possible half-Darkspawn, and a werewolf who might transform again at the next full moon - we don't even know  _what_ he's capable of - and all of them hanging about Sehun like they're cute little puppies who wouldn't harm a fly." Even closer, voice softer, slower, and just a little strained, he whispered so only the three of them would ever hear. "And we don't know for sure  _they_  aren't the ones who tipped off the people who want Sehun dead. It's three against three, and if we're going to try to return to West Hills or fight our way into Orlais for the winter,  _you_  need to decide, and you need to do it now."

 

Half an hour later, after they'd persuaded Tao to come along with them, Jongin had something resembling a plan. They were journeying north again, northwest towards Orzammar, towards Gherlen's pass, through which they could pass into Orlais and hopefully make it to the Dales before the worst of the winter season overtook them. Chanyeol wanted to go straight through without stop, but Orzammar was Jongin's plan. There they might rest for a day or two, and then they would purchase five sturdy mountain horses and leave Tao behind, maybe persuade him to find sanctuary with the surface dwarves who lived at the mouth of the dwarven kingdom. Somehow, they would work towards leaving Kyungsoo behind too (Baekhyun had a plan just in case Jongin's failed), and with just Kris to accompany them, make a dash through the pass, and be on their way. 

It was a long shot at best, but Jongin knew of no other way, and currently the path forward was a lot less scarier than the path behind and the numerous ways they'd almost died already on that accursed road. With just a whispered apology upon his lips, Jongin prayed his master, the Arl of West Hills, would forgive him the trek so far out of their way. But Jongin's mission, first before delivering Sehun to his father, was to keep the boy alive. 

 

 

 

 

"So," Luhan surveyed the scene before them. "This is the great Orzammar?" 

Minseok smirked, and then smacked the templar on the back of the head. "This, is the surfacers' hangout. Call it a city, or a market, the place where guards turn their backs on illegal shipments coming out of the deeps. We haven't even seen Orzammar yet, and we're probably not going to."

Luhan looked just a bit disappointed. 

Suho looked like a girl. Literally. By his own free will, he'd allowed them to dress him up as a female dwarf, wig and all, and it took Minseok back to the day when they'd first met Sehun and he'd been in disguise as well. It hadn't been a great disguise then, and it wasn't now, but Suho was absolutely terrified of being spotted and recognized, and since this was the feeding grounds of the Carta, it was just a tiny bit safer for him to sashay around as a woman.

Minseok had last seen him/her and Jongdae camping out on the post markers that lead out to Gherlen's Pass. If Jongin, Sehun, and the others hadn't already passed this way, there was no way they would miss them now. Heechul hadn't been able to remember where the other part of the tunnel came out afterall, mentioning something about it being well hidden. So unless the steward was lying, they had little choice but to pretend the tunnel opened up north and that Jongin would continue in this direction. Yixing had Alistair and Heechul on the Ferelden side of the road, and that just left Minseok and Luhan to explore the makeshift village of surfacers camped out before the great doors of Orzammar. They were also, as Minseok nervously noted to himself, alone. 

"I want to buy you something," Luhan whispered, eyes not on Minseok but on the many vendors' stalls and wares. Minseok followed him slack-jawed.

"What? Why?"

The templar hummed, disappointed that Minseok wasn't quite as giddy as himself. Luhan seemed tired these days, worn out from all the travel. It was a state they all shared after so many weeks on the road, but Luhan especially was just a bit glum, his energy flagging, slight circles forming under his eyes. And still his eyes sparkled excitedly at the prospect of trinkets and jewels and cloths. Minseok could not deny him this, not if he had a heart. And wandering with Luhan through the small dwarven settlement felt oddly like, courting. 

This was not the first time he'd been here. Side by side with Luhan however, it felt like it. He took in the templar's wonder as if from his own eyes. Dwarven made armor and weapons, armor and clothes, crafts so intricate they could not be found anywhere else except in the capital cities of nations, and for so much more gold than either of them could afford. Here it was crowded, an intimate market throng nestled into the cliff directly below the great entrance of the only surviving dwarven kingdom. It made him seem so small, yet in spite of all that Luhan had no other aim than to buy him something? His heart thumped a few times and he hastened to remember why they were actually here.

"Keep an eye out for Jong-"

"Yes, I know. I know."

For good measure they asked around if a troop of travelers had come through, matching the description to their friends, but none claimed to have seen them yet, not even the liveried dwarf selling nugs and donkeys. Luhan barely heard the dwarf's answer before he tugged Minseok on by, distracted by an elderly dwarf matron selling all kinds of cheap trinkets that Minseok definitely had no use for. The templar had other ideas, of course.

"I told you," he tried in vain to dissuade him, "I don't need-"

"You can stop talking now, Minseok," Luhan replied, still coolly not looking at him, otherwise he would have seen the look of mixed exasperation and softening curiosity on Minseok's face. "We couldn't go out before, in Redcliffe, because you were... you were..."

"A prisoner?" Minseok suggested.

Luhan faltered for barely a moment. "Y-Yes. Anyways now, well you never know what'll happen later."

Truer words Luhan had probably never spoken.

_"But not more than I like you."_

Except for maybe that...

In another time, another place, maybe... But the present was so uncertain. Minseok was still, for lack of a better word, an apostate, and Luhan was a templar on an extremely long side quest, dead set on helping a group of strangers on the reason for no better reasons than,  _because we should_.

If that was Luhan's whole rationale for traveling all the way to Orzammar on the whim that they might catch up with Jongin and the others, it was flimsy at best. Luhan was willfully distracting himself from the actual issue on hand, and Minseok was not unintelligent. He knew why Luhan did it, and it all came down to one thing: Minseok himself. He was the distraction in Luhan's life, threatening not only the templar's career, but his actual life. 

Maybe, if Minseok could think rational thoughts too, he would leave. Not because he feared being arrested again and sent to lock-up in a Circle Tower somewhere, but because there was no point in... this. In continuing to aid Luhan's infatuation with a mage he could not hope to hold onto longer than some flimsy 'mission'. And yet, there was a part of him that wanted to see it through, to pretend that maybe it could work, or at least enjoy it while it lasts. 

"Minseok," Luhan's voice drew him out of his reverie. "Minseok, look. Isn't this... pretty?"

In his unoccupied hand Luhan held up a small pocket-sized mirror. It had a gilt oval frame, clear glass mirror with a slight chip towards the lower face. He rolled it over in his palm, having already seen the painted back of a fawn in a meadow beside a lake bluer than any waters they'd yet encountered.

"A gift for a lover," said the merchant dwarf, her eyes beaming in intrigue as she eyed their still-entwined fingers from where Luhan was refusing to let go. Minseok purposefully dug his hand away, bashfully worrying about appearances and ignoring the slight frown upon Luhan's lips.

"Hmmm," said the templar, turning the mirror back around. He played around with it, as if checking himself out and his frown turned deeper as he ran a hand across the stubble forming thickly across his chin. However, he acted like he liked what he saw, and cheerfully dug through his robes for the purse string in which he kept his gold. 

"Is it for yourself then?" the merchant asked after Luhan didn't appear to acknowledge Minseok at all.

"Hmm. No, not for myself. Just a simple present."

He didn't give it to him either. Not then, not right away. Not until they'd walked the whole of the market, dutifully inquiring after the others. Not until they walked the slightly less crowded path back to the main road where Yixing and Heechul were stationed as look-outs. 

Luhan stopped though before they got too far or too close. Minseok suddenly shivered as a cold mountain breeze wafted down through the pass. Luhan made to fix the collar of Minseok's robes to cover up more of his neck, but Minseok got there first and the templar backed down, bashfully waiting. 

"What... what is it?" he asked Luhan, knowing exactly what the man was about to do. The mirror was already back out of his pocket, rolling between Luhan's two hands while he hesitated actually giving it to him. 

Luhan hung his head, and Minseok counted the seconds. All the way to ten, and when Luhan looked up again his eyes shimmered, a nervous hesitation not entirely dampened by his desire.

"Minseok," he spoke softly. "You know, if... if... well, when I asked you a few days ago about where you wanted to go, and you said Tevinter, or Orlais, or just anywhere."

"Yes?"

Again Luhan paused before he continued. "You can go any of those places. Any time. Whenever you want. I won't stop you. On just... one condition. You accept this present from me." He pressed the mirror into Minseok's palm, and closed his fingers around it. Something like tears threatened to form in Minseok's eyes, and he batted his lashed furiously to make them stop. It did nothing to get rid of the feeling of Luhan's hand still vaguely touching his. Now that his offer had been accepted - Minseok couldn't refuse it now - Luhan was reluctant to step back.

"It's not enchanted to track me down wherever I go, is it?" Minseok joked. 

Luhan laughed. "You're the mage. You tell me. I might have bought a necklace or some other piece of jewelry if I thought it wouldn't remind you of that cursed ring you touched." He huffed, scoffing. "Shame we lost that and the horse when the dragon attacked. Oh well."

Another sensation threatened to burn through Minseok's eyeballs this time. Guilt. "Oh, oh the ring. Yeah, shame." 

"Anyways, that's best lost probably," said Luhan, still caught up in his own thoughts. "The mirror though. I think it's just... normal."

"Just a simple present, right?" Minseok echoed, chuckling slightly.

"Yeah."

"So, with this mirror, I can now disappear on you whenever I want."

Luhan looked wounded, playfully so. However, there was just enough truth in both of their positions for Minseok to wince as well. Here was a templar offering him freedom, a templar he'd effectively if not accidentally charmed in a hundred different ways. 

"That's... my condition," he stated firmly.

"And you only had the one?" Minseok pressed. He carefully pocketed the mirror into one of the safest places on the outside of his robes and took a step forward. It took Luhan by surprise. Therefore Minseok continued to tease him. "Not going to arrest Yixing in my place?"

The templar's eyes widened for a second, and then he laughed. "No. No, I wouldn't dare."

"Good, because you'd probably die in the attempt."

They laughed it off, successfully stalling Luhan's plight for a few more moments. However, once their soft voices died down, every raging  _what if_  surfaced again in Minseok's mind.

"Surely you've got one more condition?" He smiled, inclining his head, and Luhan just gaped.

"I d-do?"

"Yeah. Something you started before, under the fallen tree. But I... couldn't help you much then."

He waited, watched for the spark of recognition to make its way across Luhan's face, and  _there_ , there it was. A memory and a blush, and Minseok couldn't wait any longer. He took one more forward step, arms reaching out to embrace him, but their lips met first anyways. Luhan kissed him hungrily, heads colliding, arms and bodies only seconds behind. After having gone from nothing, to suddenly getting... this, Minseok didn't know how or why he would ever want to leave it. They had nothing to lean against, nothing to fall against except for each other, Luhan's hands wrapping low around his waist, and they made no noise as they kissed, as if sound itself could tear them apart, break their fragile reprieve before they wanted.

Minseok held him close, pulling his head back only when Luhan did as the templar settled instead for nuzzling at his neck, nose first and head tucked against him completely. Minseok slid his arms up to clutch at the templar's shoulder blades, an effective body lock from which no one could upset.

No one except a slight cough and an embarrassed clearing of a throat.

Minseok and Luhan sprung apart, whipping about to see the reddish cheeks of Heechul, the steward, a fist clutched nervously before his lips as if he dared to speak and earn even more reproach.

"Ahhem."

"What is it?" Luhan asked first.

Heechul smiled, only one side of his mouth actually working right now. "Yixing... told me to run and fetch you too. We think we've spotted your friends coming up the road. If you wanted to... meet them... say, when you two are through... then..." He completed his smile finally, and Minseok just sighed.

"We'll be right there."

Heechul turned tail rather quickly at Minseok's scowl and scrambled back from the way he'd evidently come. Minseok shook his head, digging a boot into the earth in metaphoric pain and sighed heavily again. He glanced up and Luhan hadn't moved. He was almost frozen like a statue except for his lips which were reddened and damp and quickly drying out before of the strong winter breeze. 

"Smells like snow," Minseok said to bridge the silence. Moments ago it had been so nice. Now, however...

Luhan's face broke, and he too smiled and chuckled, still somewhat embarrassed. "Bet you like snow? Frost mage?" His eyes twinkled again, and Minseok felt part of his heart start to beat rapidly all over again. 

"Yeah. I do. Come on, let's go see what assistance Jongin needs from us now, huh? Otherwise, what good are we to them?"

_For what good reason are we still together without them_? He left that part at least unsaid. 

 


	26. Storm Clouds

They'd been climbing at a steady uphill pace for days, and it had only grown more noticeable in the past few hours. Orzammar, and consequently Gherlen's Pass, lay beneath an intimidating set of mountain peaks from which swept a cold, chilling wind. Baekhyun was gladder than ever for the furs they'd doubled up on in Redcliffe. Everyone in their traveling party needed extra layers now, even Tao. The boy's skin was incredibly warm for an elf, but at the first sign of shivers, Jongin insisted he share in their furs at least until they got to Orzammar. 

"We'll be there by noon," said Kris when asked. "I recognize these land formations. Not long now."

Baekhyun recognized them too but he was too grumpy, and cold, to point that out. He was also quite on edge wondering what they'd find when they got there. No warm place to rest, for a start, but he worried more about the company they might meet. 

"I'm going to scout on ahead," he told them all, jaw set with determination.

"I'll go with you," said Chanyeol, but Baekhyun put up a hand. 

"No, you'll just slow me down." He pulled his hood tighter over his head, tucked his reddish bangs inside and double-checked that his bow was set and ready to be handled. 

Jongin tried to catch his eye, but Baekhyun shook his head. He already knew what the warrior would say; it was probably along the lines of be careful and don't kill anyone you don't have to. As he prepared to sprint they all noticed Tao sniffing into the wind. He acted eerily like a wolf, but when asked Tao frowned sadly and explained that sometimes he smelled things. "I keep thinking my senses are better," the boy sniffed, this time in frustration. "But they're not. Not anymore." 

Baekhyun struck his body into the wind and dashed onward. 

The road was not empty of travelers this time of day, but he kept to the shadows whenever he heard noises. Fallen leaves crackled under his boots, easily muffled in the wind. It would snow soon. He didn't need to be a wolf like Tao to recognize the scent of a coming storm, and he was not happy knowing this. A snowstorm could block their way or trap them in the dwarven surfacers' outcroft. The thaig itself would not offer them respite, not to outsiders such as them, and they could not hope to weather a storm well in any other place. By himself perhaps Baekhyun was crazy enough to go through the pass and begin the descent in a storm, but only just. He would not advise risking Sehun's life in such a way. It was all the more reason he determined to scope out the pass and see who awaited, for sadly, he imagined they might be there a while. 

The sight of a nondescript man with vaguely curly hair did not excite Baekhyun's interest much, except that the figure was perched up high on a large rock formation, sitting happily in the perfect look-out position, waiting. Baekhyun ducked down out of sight and crept stealthily around the boulder, just in case, thinking perhaps that the profile was familiar to him. Behind the rock though, if he climbed just right, was a narrow crack wide enough for Baekhyun to fit through. The rock was cold against his hands, his feet slid a bit as he shuffled through sideways, and he almost cursed himself for being too suspicious when a gust of wind caught the boulder just right and froze one side of his body. He was almost through when his foot slipped. It wasn't a long fall to the ground, nor was he so inexperienced as to cry out when he landed. He did, however, grimace when another person's boot stepped right up to his prostrate head. The boot was attached to a long set of brownish robes, which clothed a lengthy body atop with Yixing's head.

"Baekhyun?" said the mage amusedly. "Well, there you are. What took you so long? We've been waiting for you guys for hours!"

Baekhyun sighed, resisting the urge to just curl up and take a little nap on the mountain forest floor. 

 

 

 

"Where are you sending him?" said Baekhyun a few minutes later, watching the stranger who'd been up on the rock dart off in the direction of Orzammar. 

"To fetch Minseok."

"Minseok? Who is Minseok?"

On his own, Yixing did not look particularly threatening, and he hadn't made a single hostile move, but Baekhyun did not trust him, especially when the fellow grinned at him obnoxiously and repeated, "Minseok," like it was the most normal name in the world. Baekhyun knew he only had about ten minutes' head start on the others and he was not anxious for them to see Yixing again. If he could warn them maybe they'd have a chance of  _not_ rejoining with their former acquaintances, but truthfully it was unlikely. Especially when it took mere moments before he spotted the man returning, Luhan the templar following behind. There was no sign yet of Xiumin.

"Minseok went to get the others," Luhan said, before smiling jovially at the sight of Baekhyun. 

"Minseok?" Baekhyun repeated. This time he got a response, but it was in the form of Luhan glancing nervously at Yixing and the mage smiling back like normal. When he guessed he would not get an answer, he tried another attack instead, indicating the stranger in a commoners' outfit. "And this is..."

"Heechul!" Luhan answered happily. "We... but wait, perhaps you..."

"We met," said Heechul, a sour turn to his voice. "In the barn, before it partially burned down... you left me there."

And now Baekhyun realized why he looked familiar. "Heechul... so, that's your name. Uhh, I'm glad you're alright?" he offered weakly.

Heechul sniffed, and Baekhyun supposed he deserved that. In his defense, yes they'd found the steward in distress but his priority then had been to warn Jongin they were about to be attacked, and things grew considerably out of his hands when the house caught fire with them in it. They never did have time to go back and free the man in the barn, but at least Luhan did? He smiled, apologetically. 

"So you went to the manor like Jongin said," Baekhyun mused quietly. Then he lifted his head and stared. "It was a trap though."

"We know," said Yixing. "We were right behind you actually. All of you running into the manor, hoards of mercenaries between you and us."

"And then a dragon swooped by," Luhan added, bored. "And we almost died. But it was alright in the end."

Baekhyun stood by, silently assessing how they must have missed each other by minutes. Fate was strange indeed. "We heard the dragon... did you... did everyone make it?" He still wanted to know where Xiumin was, if he was still playing friendly, or if he was not. "Xiumin? And Jongdae? Alistair? S-Suho?" The last he'd seen of the dwarf, the poor little guy was being hauled away by a gang of thieves and smugglers. Instead of an answer, he got a laugh. Trudging down the road was Jongdae and Xiumin and a very small 'woman' in a dark, red-brown cape that did not seem to fit her well. Heechul loitered behind. 

"See for yourself, friend," said the assassin. "We are here indeed." 

Baekhyun watched, stunned, as Jongdae leaned over to adjust the long strands of straight brown hair on the dwarf, realizing it was a wig when the whole thing shifted sideways two inches before Jongdae settled it back. The dwarf, Suho, he realized, immediately scowled and jumped away. 

"I see..." said Baekhyun. He laughed. For a second he could pretend that everything was normal, until he caught sight of the mage craning his head around, obviously looking for the others. Without backup, Baekhyun felt paralyzed. What was Xiumin hiding and did the others know? Did Luhan know or was he cluelessly in love? Could Jongdae be apart of it? Or Suho? Yixing surely must know something. Mages understood other mages, but he had no idea what either of their motives could be. 

"Xiumin," he said coldly. All eyes moved upon him as he plotted his test. "I take it you know that Kyungsoo came and found us?"

"He did?" The mages eyes opened wide. 

"Yeah, came to warn us. About the manor, about you. By the way, have you happened to come across any werewolves of late?"

 

 

 

Jongin heard the word 'werwolves' from quite a few paces away. Tao heard it from even farther. Up ahead was Baekhyun squared up against their friends from before, and he was not looking happy. Tao snarled, an elven imitation of an animal that sent chills down Jongin's spine. Even at this distance, Tao sensed an enemy. Jongin clutched the hilt of his weapon instinctually, and that's when Tao whispered, "Xiumin," before he charged. 

It all happened so suddenly. One minute they were walking peacefully up the slope towards Baekhyun and the others, the next thing Jongin knew, Tao was darting past them. There was a dagger in his hand that Jongin didn't know he had. It gleamed in the pale noon light, beautiful, raised and deadly. It was only logical Tao's opponent would seek to defend himself, and that is just what Xiumin did. Jongin heard the mage's warning cry even as Tao moved. The boy had a head start on them, but Jongin, Chanyeol, and Kris lunged forward in unison. Even so they arrived too late.

Tao crashed over the mage as a flash of ice particles erupted. They hit the ground together before anyone even knew what was happening. Baekhyun suddenly yelled, and Luhan roared to action. Jongin heard the templar's sword unleashed, heard the barrage of his shield as it knocked against Tao and the boy cried as he rolled off Xiumin, ice flecked to his hair, face, and clothes but neither that nor the bashing stopped him from digging his limbs into the earth and pouncing again. The mage was already regrouping, staff in his hand as he drew up his knees and scooted away. Before Tao could attack again, however, Luhan drew between them and in his haste he knocked against Baekhyun with the corner of his shield. 

Jongin yelled. "Stop! Everyone stop!" but the elf was already in action. He joined Tao, side-stepping Luhan and his arrow flew towards Xiumin who threw up a protective barrier around himself and Suho who had rushed to aid him. The second arrow missed as well, bouncing off the barrier, but an enraged Luhan suddenly took up all their attention. 

Jongin had a split second to look into the man's eyes and saw only fury.  _So this is how it's going to be?_ he thought, before Luhan lunged at Baekhyun. In a heartbeat, sides were taken. Chanyeol and Kris flanked Jongin as Baekhyun darted away and to the back. Tao, more feral than Jongin thought possible, was a ruthless and seemingly uncatchable force. And of course Yixing would take Xiumin's side. Of course Jongdae would rush into the fray. There were two mages and two warriors against Jongin and his small army, a skirmish he never expected to happen, and if common sense had been given just a few seconds to enter his brain, Jongin would have worried about their original purpose in coming this way. As it was, he detected that Sehun had not entered the bray, and that was all he had time to ponder. 

"Why are you attacking us!" Luhan screeched! He battled Chanyeol who swung his greatsword in a long arc around his body. Luhan dropped to the ground to avoid the hit and in the chaos, Chanyeol nearly caught Jongdae in the gut. The assassin whooped and dived towards the warrior's undefended left side and drew blood. 

"Ask your mage!" cried Baekhyun from a distance. 

Chanyeol stumbled but did not fall. An arrow rained over their heads before it combusted mid-flight and turned to ashes. Yixing cackled. 

"I don't understand!" yelled Luhan. 

Kris was already at Chanyeol other's side, bolstering the injured man with one arm. Between their legs Tao flitted furtively, and then he dived forward again. He had a single-minded task to get to Xiumin. Jongin mused that if they could just catch the boy, perhaps they could put an end to this obvious madness. Yixing, however, distracted him.

"I don't know what you have against us right now, but you can't win!" the mage warned. He sent a fireball crashing forwards. Jongin caught it with his shield, blocking both himself and Chanyeol. The blast was powerful though, dislodging his shoulder blade, and the flames burned bright blue in the finaly second they dissipated. Even through metal he felt the heat, knuckles pressed into the grip of his shield. He screamed as it burned but refused to let go. 

"Look at the numbers!" Chanyeol roared in retaliation.

Five against five, and Jongin had not seen Alistair, the hound, this whole time, but Suho had yet to draw his weapon. In the dress and wig, as Jongin now recognized, the dwarf tried limply to pull Xiumin away from the fray. The mage shrugged him off and then he was on his feet again, apparently uninjured but like the templar, like Baekhyun and Chanyeol, he was enraged. He swung his staff high in the air as purple clouds drew towards it. Jongin braced himself for an attack, deflected another one of Yixing's lighter blasts, and Tao went yelping again as he hit and reverberated off Luhan's shield. Baekhyun continued to rain down arrows, one of which grazed Jongdae's cheek and the assassin renewed a twirling dual-bladed attack on Kris. He was faster and smaller, but then Jongin saw the mage's foaming cloud start to descend and he froze in terror at what was to come. Like a million stars, the particles of wind and light whirled tightly and then broke apart. Streams of it flew to the ground in every direction. On their side, Yixing threw up a magical shield that blocked all but himself. Then he, as well Jongin, Chanyeol, Kris and Tao caught the brunt of Xiumin's spell. 

They hit their knees as one, dirt springing up around them, heads pounding. Jongin dropped his sword and threw a hand to his head. There was a horrible pain, as if a thousand shards might be breaking through his skull, as if it might shatter completely, so horrific that he waited for death. None came. Instead, images. Visions. The souls of people he'd killed in his travels, their faces gaunt like wraiths trapped in the Fade. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. All around he heard only the dying throes of the faces in his head. They swirled and danced, a grotesque ballet, haunting and unnatural. Tears came to his eyes as the pain throbbed and pulsed, and the faces mutated, became recognizable. He saw his parents, his father on his deathbed, his mother as she sobbed. He saw his Lord, the Arl, crying out to him. 'Where is my son! What have you done with my son!' and instead of Sehun's face, he saw Jaejoong as he looked the last time Jongin had seen him, in his bed like death from whatever illness had befallen him. Mostly Jongin felt their terror and their hopelessness. His hopelessness. He cried and shook his head and for a brief moment he saw Chanyeol doing the same, and another spasm pressed through his body until he felt his head returning to rights. 

Baekhyun was still fighting. Kris had already recovered. Chanyeol wobbled, but he pushed back onto his feet and was right there again to intercept a swing from Luhan's sword. 

"He cursed us, bloody whorespawn!" the warrior roared. 

Jongin wanted to vomit. He felt weak, light-headed still, and with every passing moment he had less and less desire to continue fighting. 

"I warned you! I warned you!" Baekhyun shouted from behind. He shrieked then as a blast from one of the mages' staffs nearly took off his head, Jongin could not tell which. 

"Warned them against what!?" Xiumin cried. 

"Against you! Bloody mage, you're a blood mage and your cursed the werewolf! What else are you hiding, huh?! Have you bewitched them all, is that how they obey you?"

"What are you talking about? What werewolf?" Xiumin was barely fighting, hiding mostly behind Luhan's back as he continuously cast something that must have been a rejuvenating ward. Everyone on their side still appeared to have energy, while Jongin's was weakening. Even their clashes were shrinking in number, in force, in heart. 

"That werewolf!" Baekhyun yelled in Tao's direction where the boy was still rolling on the ground in between trying to tackle Jongdae's legs. The assassin danced around him effortlessly, blocking Tao's efforts toward Xiumin. 

"He saw you, Xiumin! He spoke with you! You've been hiding more power than you told us-"

"He's not Xiumin!" Luhan suddenly barked. He blocked one more Chanyeol's swings before jumping back and looking around at them incredulously. "Is that what this is about?"

"What else, templar! And you! You're working for him now. He's got you bewitched!"

"His name's Minseok, elf! You've got this all wrong! All of you! Can we just stop now and-"

"Not a chance!" Baekhyun cried. 

"No? Then quit hiding behind your warriors and tell us exactly what you think is happening right now!" 

"Put your weapon down and tie up that mage, and maybe we'll see," Baekhyun challenged him. 

Luhan appeared to consider it, however Xiumin drew him back and said, "No, Luhan."

"You want to keep fighting?" Luhan hissed in return. "Minseok, these people think you're a blood mage. Shall we keep this up until that indeed becomes true?! We should end this now, quit fighting."

Privately, Jongin agreed. So too did Chanyeol who hesitated just long enough to let his sword lower towards the earth. His grip remained tight, as did Jongin's, but he felt this could be a chance like no other they'd get. "Luhan, explain what's going on. Now."

"Don't talk to him, Jongin. He'll bewitch you too," said Baekhyun. 

Jongin ignored him. "Kris, grab the boy and keep him still." The qunari obeyed instantly and Tao yelped. The fight went out of him after a light struggle but once he realized Kris wasn't there to strangle him to death he went silent.

"I think... I think we need to talk," said Xiumin. "First of all, my name isn't Xiumin. It's Minseok." Jongin met his eyes, astounded and confused. All he said though was, "That boy there, Tao. He was a werewolf not too long ago. Then a very powerful mage by the name of Xiumin cured him of it. Left him alone and helpless, right in our path."

"So, he attacked someone who cured him? I don't understand," said Jongdae. Both of his daggers remained in his hands, somewhat lowered. 

"Tao?" Jongin asked. "Is he the one who did it?" 

Now that he lay inert on the ground between Kris' arms, Tao squinted. "Y-yes... I think so," he stuttered, frightened. "He looks like him."

Minseok glanced sadly down at the boy, then up at Jongin. "He saw my brother, then. Xiumin."

"Who is Xiumin?" asked Jongin immediately. "Why did you give us that name for yourself?"

"It was a mistake from the beginning," the mage explained. "When Luhan first arrested me. Look, it's a very long story. I have never seen Tao before today, but we did encounter an entire pack of werewolves two days ago who were practically begging us to cure them. Said they had met a boy who was already turned. I... I've just realized it, but it must have been my brother who did it."

Baekhyun scoffed loudly. He had come forward now, cautiously stepping in between Chanyeol and Kris. "Xiumin or Minseok. Brother or not. He says it's you. Now quit lying."

"But I'm not," said Xiumin, or was he Minseok? Jongin mused internally. "I'm not lying. I've been with these guys all this time, trying to catch up with you, and when we meet, you attack us. Xiumin is my brother. He's trying to frame me for a lot of things right now, but I'm telling you, telling  _Tao_ ," he glared at the boy, "that who that mage was was positively, not me." 

Tao whimpered under his stare. "Tao?" Jongin pushed.

"I-I-I.... did see some other wolves... Th-they wanted to be like m-me, b-b-but..."

"But? But what? Is this the mage who frightened you?"

Tao squinted again as if trying to dissect Xiumin/Minseok with his eyes alone. "H-he-e looks similar."

"Similar?" said Chanyeol. "Similar or the same? Which is it?" 

"Maybe... not the same. Just, similar."

"Well, if they're brothers, then of course they would look similar but not the same," said Jongdae impatiently. "Look, have we solved this? Can we go? I'm nursing a really lovely gouge on my shoulder because of your hired monster," he pitted his gaze on the qunari, "and would love to go grab a bite to eat."

Jongin was ready to agree. So too was just about everyone else. Except, "No," said Baekhyun. "This can't be over. You could be fooling everyone right now. Luhan. Jongin.  _Tao_."

"What have you got against me?" said the mage. 

"You don't have an alibi," the elf declared. 

Minseok's eyelids fluttered. "What? I do."

"No, you don't. You were missing for a day before we got to Haven. You met up with Kyungsoo and then you ditched him too. Where did you go-"

"Kyungsoo!?" cried Minseok. "When did you meet him?!" 

"And where is he...?" Chanyeol looked around. 

Sehun. Jongin's heart suddenly pounded. He didn't know where Sehun was. For the first time in months, he did not know exactly where Sehun was. As he spun around, Baekhyun continued to argue and Chanyeol tossed about retaliations and neither heard Jongin's whispered cries of, "Sehun, where is Sehun?" The boy wasn't anywhere in view. He thought backwards. Tao had rushed forward, then the others followed, but not Sehun. And not Kyungsoo. 

Behind him the others still fussed. " _Look, you trusted us well enough once before?"_  Minseok was declaring.  _"What's changed now?"_

_"Changed? Everything. You change stories daily. You change your name like a pair of clothes-"_

Jongin wasn't listening. "Sehun?!" he called. 

Chanyeol finally heard him. "Wait, where is Sehun? Sehun? Jongin, where is he?"

"Would you quit asking me that, that's what I'm trying to find out! Sehun?! Kyungsoo!?" 

"Sehun? Kyungsoo?!" Chanyeol echoed. 

He ignored the pent-up energy Baekhyun was intaking. All the suspicion, shock, fury at being possibly defied or lied to. Right now, finding Sehun was more important.

_"Elf, you better put that bow away,"_ he heard Yixing hiss behind him. 

"Sehun?! Sehun, shout if you can hear me!" 

_"I will not!"_ Baekhyun declared.  _"And if you dare to threaten me one more time, mage, I will not hesitate to fire."_

"Try that, and you're dead," said Yixing.

"Jongin, Chanyeol?" Kris yelled in concern, urging them to come back.

_"Yixing, stop that."_  Xiumin or Minseok's voice. 

_"I don't trust him."_

"Sehun?!" Chanyeol yelled out even louder than before. Panic dripped from every pore in his body, as it did on Jongin's own. 

Someone began to cry, possibly Tao. 

"Jongin!" Kris chanted again. 

Two sides were pulling in Jongin's head. Find Sehun. Turn around. Find Sehun or Turn around. 

He turned around. 

Around Yixing's staff was a blinding light, building energy, focused, powerful beyond what he'd thrown at them before. Xiumin or Minseok, Jongin didn't care what his name was anymore, was looking fearfully between Yixing and Baekhyun, who had an arrow ready to fly. All eyes were on the two, and it was clear nobody else wanted to fight any longer, to prolong this any longer, but Baekhyun and Yixing held each other to a personal ultimatum from which Jongin did not know how to make them back down. Baekhyun's arm trembled. Yixing's whole body rocked with the energy of his magic. One or the other would unleash it soon, or both, unless they were stopped. 

"Baekhyun..." Jongin tried, but the elf did not seem to even hear him anymore. 

Minseok crept forward towards the other mage. "Yixing... Yixing, enough. You'll burn all of us up... Don't... don't... let it go, Yixing." 

"I can't..."

"You can, Yixing, now stop it..."

Baekhyun looked more panicked now than before, the sole target of the impending spell blast, but if Minseok was right, then it was more powerful than just that. Minseok took another step forward, one hand reaching for Yixing, the other holding back on his own staff. Then his foot hit a rock and he stumbled. Yixing startled, and Jongin saw everything that came afterwards happen as if in slow motion. 

Baekhyun screamed. His arrow flew and Minseok diverted it as he fell towards the ground. Kris gathered Tao in his arms and leapt away. Jongdae and Suho dove for the ground. Chanyeol was too far out to do anything, and only Jongin seemed to move towards the impending blast instead of away. Jongin, and Luhan. The templar let out a shout and a blast from his own hands that rivaled the shockwaves of Yixing's spell. Two bursts of magic met in the middle and collided just as Jongin shoved Baekhyun to the ground, protecting him with his body. Everyone shouted, then Jongin heard a loud ringing interspersed with the clash of a thousand bolts of lightning. Two storms battling it out, loud and ominous. Jongin peaked up once to see them ringing overhead, darker than the terror storm cloud Minseok had sent, more terrifying than the waking prison he'd seen once before, more dangerous than the sight of ghouls and wraiths and all things dead or dying. 

Then one of the spells ate the other, and everything dispersed. 

Jongin panted, Baekhyun heaved. They sat up, crawling from lack of stamina. Yixing lay in a haze, his staff by his side, very much alive but ill. Minseok crawled over to him, picked up his wrist to check his pulse, and then pummelled him firmly on the side of the head. Once satisfied, he turned his attention back to where the second spell had issued. Luhan, laying completely on his back, lifeless.

Minseok panicked. "Luhan?!" 

That was enough to get Jongin to his feet. He rushed to the templar's side.

"Luhan! Luhan, wake up, can you hear me?!" Minseok cried.

"What, what happened?" asked Jongin. "Did he do real magic?"

"No... no... but he dispelled one mammoth of a spell..." The mage put his ear to Luhan's heart, moving around until he settled and stayed. 

"Is he..."

"Unconscious, but alive." Minseok breathed in relief. "We... we need to get him ly-"

Snow began to fall. And with the snow, the sound of footsteps, a small army, or an advance guard. 

"Uhm, don't mean to alarm anyway," said Jongdae who had the best view currently, "but dwarves are marching our way... Suho, put your wig on straight, we have company."

Minseok had just gotten Luhan into his arms to sit the templar up when they came around the corner of a hill. Instinctively, the rest of them drew together. Where minutes ago they had been fighting, against an unknown force they shrunk and united. 

"Sehun... where is Sehun?" Jongin turned to Chanyeol.

"I don't know!" 

"We need to find him, before-"

"Halt where you are!" yelled the oncoming guard. They wore the armor of Orzammar, twenty dwarves of identical build and dress, weapons on display but not drawn. "We are here to find Xiumin! Xiumin and his companions!" 

Nobody spoke. Minseok looked stunned, confused. "Who... who is looking for him?"

"Lord Yibo of House Zygmunt, by permission of the King of Orzammar. Please, you are our guests. You must come with us. You  _must_." 

 


	27. The Diamond Quarter

"Where are we?" Luhan whispered, his voice weak. It felt warm all around him, a dull, humid heat which he did not remember feeling before. His last conscious thought was of fear and exhaustion. And it had been cold. Now, he heard voices all around him of a busy and bustling community with an echo which rattled his brain. "Are we..."

"Orzammar. We're inside Orzammar," said Minseok and despite Luhan's confusion, he heard the nervousness of Minseok's voice.

Somehow, he was moving on his own two feet, but only because Minseok supported him on one side and on the other, Yixing. Bits of pieces of what had happened began to come back to him, and his legs collapsed completely. But just for a moment.

"Get up. You have to walk," Yixing grumbled beside him, although the gentleness of his limbs did not match the harsh tone of his voice. 

"What..."

"We can talk later. First, walk." The elf mage cursed almost silently after that, and Luhan finally managed to lift his head to look around.

"Orzammar...?" he gasped. 

All his life he'd heard of the famed thaig of legend, the last bastion of the once great dwarven kingdoms, all but nearly lost after one Blight after another sent purges of Darkspawn from the Deep Roads and swamped the thaigs. Once upon a time, it was said, a dwarf could travel to every country in Thedas without ever seeing the surface, so vast were the tunnels and roads below the earth. Now, Orzammar was it. Above Luhan's head ranged a great cavernous ceiling, part raw rock, part crafted stonemasonry, and the latter so exquisitely designed. The echo loomed louder, the more Luhan realized why. Crowds of vendors and craftsmen, merchants selling their wares, hagglers arguing for the best value they could get. Men, women and children, all dwarves, lingering on the path Luhan was even now walking, and all of them turned to stare as the travelers came by. He wasn't surprised, for they made quite a sight. 

Their escort were soldiers, each as tall as Suho but much more heavily armed. Jongin and Chanyeol lead at the front, or were being lead. Behind Jongin, Baekhyun trailed, and the three of them were hushed by the soldiers every time they attempted to talk. They looked beyond worried, and given what Luhan was remembering now, it should have been over Minseok. However, none bothered with Minseok anymore. Luhan walked between the two mages and he stumbled as he strained to look behind them: a very terrified Suho, still dressed as a girl. He walked with his head down, long hairs of his wig concealing most of his face, and behind him walked Jongdae. The assassin looked just as nervous although he hid it better than Tao who crept along, getting scared of everything that moved including his shadow. Only Kris appeared to have no fear, but then he was twice as tall as any of the dwarves and all who saw him looked afeared. 

"Where are..." Luhan's question ended in a wheeze, his voice failing him again. He just felt so _tired_...

"Sehun and Kyungsoo?" Yixing finished, and Luhan nodded. "We lost them somewhere, or rather  _they_  did, somewhere before our little scuffle began."  He shook his head at the three who walked in front, and then continued. "Heechul managed to run off before the dwarves came, I guess. No sign of Alistair since before the--"

"Little scuffle?" Baekhyun scoffed, but Yixing did not hear him. 

"Minseok?" Yixing hazarded a question across Luhan's staggering body. The soldiers had spread to the front and back, giving them a few feet of privacy even as they marched along. "Minseok, I have to ask... what has this got to do with Xiumin?"

"I don't know." Minseok frowned.

Luhan looked between them, and when the one didn't answer, Yixing explained quickly. "We have been invited,  _most sincerely,_  by some lord. Or rather,  _Xiumin_ has been invited."

"What?" he gasped.

"Don't look at me. Ask your lover here. He's the one who knows this place. Although, so does his brother, apparently," Yixing sighed. "Minseok, this is not good."

Luhan panicked internally once more. He tried to shrug off the two proffered elbows, but immediately fell to his knees. Jongin heard his groan and slowed, turning around to see what was the matter, and even the dwarven soldiers slowed politely while Minseok and Yixing quickly pulled him back upright.

"Is he... okay?" Baekhyun asked quietly,  _almost_ remorsefully, although not quite.

"I'm fine," Luhan grunted, not meeting the elf's eyes. "Where are we going exactly?" he asked Minseok.

"I don't know yet, although I must assume it's to the Diamond Quarter. Where those in the noble caste live. This is the Commons around us, their main marketplace. All the other castes live here, except for nobles and those who are..." Minseok paused, and his eyes flitted behind him briefly. Luhan didn't have to look to guess he was glancing at Suho. He was noticing more how rivulets of molten lava seemed to pour down the walls in specifically carved channels, pooling deep below from whence so much of the heat and steam arose. They rounded a corner and Luhan first noticed that the Commons seemed to be built of ledges placed all around the steaming pits below. A long bridge stretched from the main entrance to another massive stone and mortar erection, marked by stone doors at least five times the size of Kris himself. 

"At least they're not sending us to the Proving Grounds," Yixing commented. He then added mockingly under his breath, "Much rather we're guests to some pitying lordling than thrown in to a duel. Baekhyun would never make it there."

Whether or not the redheaded archer heard him or was doing a spectacular job of ignoring the taunt, Luhan didn't know. They passed more and more dwarves including shopkeepers, miners, artisans, smiths, servants of all sorts, and warriors guarding large fortified doors, even the occasional human who Minseok whispered must be down here conducting business for trade. And still, their presence along the stone pathway captured everyone's attention. 

"Hate to mention to this anyone," Jongdae intoned from behind, "but not a soul here is going to miss seeing  _us_  today." He hushed soon enough when a guard glared in his direction. 

The Diamond Quarter, once they were admitted through was another sight entirely. They were escorted up a series of steps and gates, one balcony hanging above another until all of the city lay before them, for it was from here that the nobles could look down on every caste below. Here, their guards traded off with another set, fewer this time and they wore a different insignia. 

"I am Wenhan, senior guard of House Zygmunt." They stopped up short before the new warriors and waited. Behind him stood half a dozen others in similar dress, each standing staunch and alert, their weapons sheathed. "Please, which of you is the mage Xiumin?" 

Jongin, Chanyeol and Baekhyun each shuffled around each other uneasily until a path was clear. Wenhan looked up, and his eyes traced professionally from Minseok to Luhan, to Yixing, and back the other direction, and it was clear that he had not been given a clear description of his lord's  _guest_. Each of them wore robes which might indicate a mage, and only Luhan the marks of a templar. None of them knew how to answer though. Baekhyun in particular looked just as intrigued. 

It was Minseok who spoke first. He hesitantly unwound his arm from around Luhan, who shifted his wait to lean more on Yixing instead. Then Minseok said politely, "I believe there may be a misunderstanding here. You see, we--"

"You are Xiumin?" Wenhan interrupted. "You are welcome. My Lord Yibo has been anxious for many seasons to meet you. He sends his apologies that your travels have been cut short by our most gracious invitation, but makes it up to you by offering suitable accommodations for all your companions. It is this way. Follow us."

They had no choice but to continue their march. Luhan heard Suho squeak uncomfortably once or twice, oversaw Kris muttering after almost banging his head on a lamp. Tao grew intrigued by a set of statues of dwarven giants which Suho mentioned were depictions of Paragons, the most elect, almost god-like worshiped ancestors of Orzammar. It grew darker the further up they went, the noble caste quarters making its name by the hundreds of lamps that clung to the stone stretching out in a large arc that encircled the walkways of the loftiest homes in Orzammar. It had been brightest below, where the liquid lava glowed red and warm. Above it was cool and earthy, dozens of grand doorways marking the noble estates that were seemingly built right into the stone. 

They paused before one of them now. Wenhan waved them through and another set of servants welcomed them. There was no lord yet to greet them, "But please, sers, make your comfortable. And would the lady prefer her own suite?" 

Luhan had almost forgotten. Suho himself seemed to have forgotten. 

"No," said the dwarf, at the same time Jongdae answered, "Yes, please." 

The servant dwarf smiled and looked amused, but she introduced herself as Seungyeon and bade them follow down a long passage, the end of which branched into three separate rooms for their own personal use. Dinner would be in three hours exactly, and they could meet the lord then. Until then, would they please relax as they wished and freshen up?

 

 

 

"We need to talk,  _now_ ," said Jongin once they were finally left alone. Together, they crowded into the center room, the largest. It was lit like the passageways outside, through torchlight, although a strange red-blueish light emitted from the rafters above. Jongin gave himself just long enough to verify that they were truly alone and that the room appeared safe before rounding on the two mages. 

"Xiumin! Or, Minseok. Whatever your name is. First thing's first: What exactly is...is..." He started to stutter when he saw the mages lifting Luhan onto the bed, the templar sighing in relief to feel comfort beneath his body. "What is... is he alright? What's wrong with him?"

Baekhyun chewed on his lower lip, something Jongin had learned meant that the elf was unhappy with the current situation, but there was nothing that could be helped for the moment. Too much of their lives had taken a sudden turn in the last twenty minutes alone, and right now, one of their numbers appeared seriously ill.

"Lyrium deficiency," said Minseok. "He's been rationing whatever he had with him over the past few weeks, and it's not been enough. Templars need it... Without it he is... Well, you can say it's like an addiction. His body is reacting to it now ever since he dispelled..." Minseok broke off speaking and furrowed his eyebrows in Yixing's direction. Then he started again. "The dwarves mine lyrium. Center of the lyrium trade. If we can just get some from them in a purified concentration then--"

"Wait, wait wait." Surprisingly, it was Chanyeol interrupting this time, his hands waving in the air. "One thing at a time here. Look, I know about templars and lyrium. He won't likely die from it, especially if he's already grown accustomed to smaller doses. But we can't start talking about trade with the dwarves until we know exactly what our situation is. I don't know if anyone's noticed this," he growled, knowing specifically that everyone was, "But we are the most imprisoned-feeling  _guests_  of some dwarven lord we've never heard of, and to top it off, we are _missing Sehun outside!_ "

"And Kyungsoo," Jongdae added unhelpfully with a grin, taking advantage of Chanyeol's dramatic pause.

" _And_  Kyungsoo," Chanyeol returned, not at all humored. 

Baekhyun slumped into an armchair unhappily, growing even more unhappy when he determined that the chair was made completely out of stone. "Is there a soft thing in this place at all?" He mused hopefully at the bed which was covered in blankets, but Luhan was already dozing on it somewhere between reality and dreams. 

Jongin frowned and cleared his throat, directing his eyes on Minseok. There was nothing like the present to ask. "Who is Lord Yibo? And why has he asked for... Xiumin?"

He was going to assume Minseok's story that Xiumin was his brother until proven otherwise. Underground with no clear pathway out and hundreds of dwarven soldiers between them and the gates of Orzammar, he, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Kris, and Tao were never more at the mercy of the mages than now. He had to trust them, or at least manage to have Minseok trusting them. Otherwise, they may never escape with their lives, and Sehun would be lost forever, prisoner to a tainted Darkspawn human, for all Jongin knew. 

Minseok appeared not even to be listening. He knelt on the bed next to Luhan, sighing, and Jongin was about to ask again when the mage lifted his head and slid off the bed. He ran a hand through his bangs and gave the room a cursory glance around. 

"Lord Yibo is... well, he was just a boy the last time I heard that name. He can't be much older now than when... And he wasn't the heir." Minseok shook his head. "Something is wrong here, but I cannot fathom that we were invited like that based on a simple mistake..."

"And by invited, you mean, weapons confiscated, ordered into Orzammar at sword point, just about?" Baekhyun had his arms folded across his chest, knees up with his feet on the chair and he looked very small in the stone setting. He'd also, Jongin noticed, lost some of the fight out of his voice. As if he knew as well as Jongin that they had nothing going for them currently.

Minseok sighed. "Correct."

"It's a scheme," said Yixing. "Xiumin's scheme to be exact. It  _has_  to be. There's no other plausible reason."

"Xiumin," Jongin exhaled. "Xiumin, who is your brother. And he's a blood mage?"

Minseok nodded. "He's two years older than me. I haven't seen in almost eight years. We... we don't get along. Or at least we didn't bother trying to  _get_ along until he  _probably_ anonymously tipped off the templars about where  _he_ could be located, and sent them right to my doorstep."

"And that's where Luhan comes in," said Jongin, trying to make sense of this whole operation.

"Yes."

"And you didn't bother to try and correct him?" asked Baekhyun.

"At the time, no. To be honest, I wasn't planning on sticking around very long. I knew that if he took me back to the Circle Tower in Ferelden that the Templars there would likely sentence me to death, and it wouldn't matter that I wasn't my brother. When the Order gets an idea into their head, well... they don't often take their sweet time dispensing justice however they see fit." He paused long enough to look at Luhan in the bed, whose eyes fluttered open for just a second. Minseok smiled, reprovingly gentle, before continuing his story.

"There's no proof that I'm not Xiumin. My brother would have taken and destroyed his own phylactery when he left his Circle. All anyone would have of him anymore is a rough drawing from ten years ago, so we look well enough alike, as Tao can probably testify. He seems to be the only person here who has seen both of us. Well, him and Yixing..."

Jongin felt like his head's about to spin. "So you and Yixing really do go back? And you hid that as well?" 

Minseok was distracted from answering, however: Luhan thrust an arm out, begging to sit up on the bed. Yixing got to him first and Luhan's head wobbled on his neck. His coloring was going from bad to worse, pale white and sickly, dark lines beneath his eyes. "Your... your brother was in the Circle?" the templar gasped. 

"Yes. In Orlais. He joined voluntarily when he was a teenager."

"How... why?" Luhan begged to know.

"He saw ambition there. In the courts. People with power, influence, knowledge. You've never been to Orlais, but they treat their mages quite a bit better than in Ferelden, even better than in Nevarra or the Free Marches. Orlesian mages, they have much more freedom to learn, to live. They're not guarded every single moment by templars like in Ferelden."

"I... I had heard of such things but, never realized how... lax they were?"

"Some might say too lax," said Minseok. "In an order where some mages are free to carefully study magic at their own pace, others flourish beyond what is acceptable. They tear at the Veil and disturb the demons beyond, and that is what my brother has done." He turned to Jongin then, apologetically defensive when he stated in no uncertain terms, "And that is why, if he's behind this, then we are in trouble and we need to find a way out." 

Jongin sighed heavily, a migraine starting to flourish. "Andraste's arse, you couldn't have warned us before how bad this situation could get?" 

"Uhh, yeah," Baekhyun added. "Because I couldn't help noticing how very deep into the stone we've gone, and there are at least six levels of guard-patrolled balconies between us and the Commons, and a lava pit below."

Minseok sunk onto the bed frame again, and Luhan relaxed his head back onto a pillow. Yixing looked like he was silently thinking, but he offered none of his thoughts out loud. Even Chanyeol had nothing further to add. Baekhyun was quiet, Tao and Kris stunned into silence. Jongin had no ideas other than trying to muscle their way out, weaponless and all. In all of their cluelessness, however, that just left Jongdae to pout.

"Well, if everyone wants to just ponder our imminent death, perhaps we ought to ask the only person here who really knows this place?"

One by one, as if sparks were being ignited in their brains, everyone turned to stare at him. And then they looked at Suho.

The dwarf looked scared, haggard, his overcoat and dress fitting him poorly, and his wig was dusty and dirty. The fact that nine pairs of eyes were suddenly staring at him like he could save the world clearly unnerved him. His face began to convulse, panic and confusion and a streak of comprehension, of how he could possibly be viewed as their impending savior.

"I... I have a sister in Dust Town," he started out quietly. "And..." Suho swallowed heavily and then started to choke from his own nerves.

"And?" Jongin prompted, hoping against hope that this dwarf had a better idea than him.

"A half-brother... I, don't think he'll help us because he probably hopes me dead right now but, there might be a few servants left in the household who... who... might... could assist...?"

"Who's your half-brother," Minseok suddenly demanded, and the room grew silent.

They almost didn't hear him, his voice squeaked so much. Finally though, he was able to answer. "L-Lord... Namjoon."

 

 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo wiped his face furiously, pulling up the hood of his cape high enough so that it protected his ears, cheek, and nose too, preferably. It might be a losing cause, but he feared Alistair's tongue might just stay permanently gray if the hound persisted in giving him a bath. He sighed and pet the animal, untucking his legs from their cramped position behind the boulder. It should be safe enough now to poke his head out. The dwarven soldiers had gone, taking with them all of the rest of their very confused, exhausted, defeated looking party. 

Kyungsoo hadn't stopped muttering and cursing for the last ten minutes, and it had nothing to do with being stuck outside with the welp of a boy. Sehun, he could handle like putty in his hands. He already had. Rather, the reason he was furious was because Minseok was effectively gone, and Minseok had  _the ring_. Kyungsoo couldn't even sneak off now. He had Sehun, but not the ring. And now the others had been rounded up and taken to Orzammar, for what reason Kyungsoo did not know. 

He put his hand to Sehun's forehead, checking that the boy was still knocked out but breathing. He was, just as Kyungsoo had planned, although perhaps the bruise on the side of Sehun's head was bigger than it should be. Foolish boy for trying to resist, trying to leap into the middle of a possibly disastrous fray of steel and magic when he still couldn't hold onto a simple dagger properly enough. 

He muttered anew and guessed he ought to have at least ten more minutes to scout around. No one at the surfacer's market would recognize him. Plenty of shady characters came this way every week. He would be safe, and Sehun too as long as he didn't wake up too soon and try to run off. 

Alistair padded by his side, the two of them trotting up the hill and around the bend to where the shop stalls and hovels began. How fitting, that a veritable slum would stand as the first sight for visitors to the great dwarven Orzammar. 

"That's a nice animal there," said an elderly woman about four feet high. 

Kyungsoo grimaced and didn't reply. Beside her sat a dwarf boy, a teenager from the looks of it, although he could be a bit older. Kyungsoo could never tell with dwarves. Not that he'd had much experience with them. 

"Donkey," said the boy. 

Kyungsoo stopped and stared. Alistair's nose perked up curiously, as if he too was trying to figure out who was the donkey.

"Excuse me?" said Kyungsoo. The woman hadn't said anything, although she did look at Kyungsoo like he was supposed to say something else.

"Donkey," said the boy again.

Kyungsoo had no idea what to say. He started to walk on by, looking for any sign for how he could get into Orzammar without the guards noticing. It would probably be extremely hard, if not impossible.

"Donkey." 

This time Kyungsoo did not even look behind him, until the woman sighed and said, "Jackson... why you don't tell him about your donkey?"

Something in her tone caused Kyungsoo to turn, and this time she caught his eye with a mischievous glint. "Is there... something I should know?" 

She smiled, feigning ignorance as she started fiddling with her wares, but it must only have been a ruse to anyone watching from nearby. Kyungsoo stood closer to her stall, trinkets and jewelry, nothing particularly especial, except, "Donkey."

He sighed and looked at the boy called Jackson. It was only then he noticed a caged animal pen that stood behind the tree line quite a small distance away. 

"You have donkeys?" Kyungsoo felt stupid even as he asked. 

"Tour Orzammar and the Deep Roads.  _If_  you buy one..."

"Donkey?" Kyungsoo suggested.

Jackson smiled. 


	28. One's Scary Mage is Another's Hero

Baekhyun was antsy. For the second time in less than a week, he was trapped underground. The tunnel from the wrecked manor home was bad enough and scary enough, but at least there'd been some hope of an exit, and nothing living to bar their way. Here however, deep inside the mountain now in wondrous Orzammar... It might give him something to sing about later, but in the meantime... he shook his head, stretched out the muscles of his hand, and kicked sideways on the bed where he was laying on his stomach, propped up by his elbows. His foot found Jongin's ribcage without even looking. 

"Ouch! Baekhyun- what?!"

"Nothing. Just making sure you were still alive there." 

"Not for long if you keep kicking me."

"You can't die on me now, Jongin... We still have a Great Escape to plan and Sehun to rescue." He scribbled some more onto the parchment the servant girl Seungyeon had been kind enough to give him. The pretty dwarf had been in and out of the three guest rooms a lot over the last hour. She and a veritable army of servants had hauled in buckets of boiling water to fill the great stone and metal basins in the corners of each room. Jongin had already had his bath. He'd fussed greatly about the scalding temperature and Baekhyun's wandering eyes. Baekhyun went second. He felt better, and now paid no attention to the very large, very nude qunari mercenary who was sunk down into the water conducting his own set of bathing rituals. Jongin also did not bother to watch. Without weapons to clean, he polished his armor which the dwarves had permitted them to keep. The rest of their garments were clean linens brought to them compliments of House Zygmunt. Pants and tunics in bright shades of violet and green, neutral browns to balance the clash. The sleeves and hems were embroidered with geometrical patterns.  Baekhyun assumed these must be significant to the noble clan as well. The clothes fit each of them moderately well, although Baekhyun rather enjoyed the pale lilac overcoat and brown braided sash. Apart from the bath, this was so far the only highlight of being a valued prisoner in Orzammar. There was just no other word to describe it.

"We're stuck here until Suho can smuggle out that letter for help," said Jongin with a sigh.

"I'm glad to hear you have such confidence in his scheme," Baekhyun replied. "Already you've forgotten that his name isn't Suho anymore. It's Junhee.  _Junhee_ , remember? We found  _her_  happily skipping along the King's Highway and took her in because she's such an excellent cook."

Jongin snorted. "Right. Junhee."

Kris in the basin chuckled as well. He then managed to lose his balance against the sides of the tub and slipped down into the water. Jongin and Baekhyun both laughed when he came back spluttering. He had one long leg thrusting out, another foot, and both arms flailing. He cursed in his own language and muttered something about neither of them having to fit into a tub that was made for dwarves. Baekhyun gave him two pitying words of sympathy before going back to his fresh paper and quill.

The room devolved into silence again. The only sounds came from his scratching of his quill, while Jongin polished his armor and Kris bathed. They had divided three to a room for time and convenience's sake. Yixing, Jongdae and Suho-codename-Junhee were in the room opposite the hallway. Minseok, Luhan and Chanyeol remained in the center bedroom where they'd first convened. Tao refused to pick  a room and kept bursting into each of them just to see what was going on. Baekhyun wasn't particularly happy with their scattered arrangement. Yet it was that or watch everybody in the party take a bath one at time. And really, Baekhyun was only interested in one person in particular. They'd been given three hours to prepare to meet Lord Yibo. If Baekhyun was going to die then he'd like to die clean and rested, in mind and in body.

"Baekhyun?" 

The elf turned his head towards Jongin. "What."

"Back at the manor... you know, before we were ambushed..."

"Yes?" 

Jongin had a faraway look to his eyes, as if he was contemplating something deep which he didn't know how to put into words. "Well, I thought I saw something."

Baekhyun felt a quickening, sick feeling start growing from the pit of his stomach. He put down his quill and tried to look humorous. "Jongin, if you're trying to tell us you glimpsed that dragon before it actually came down, either I or Kris here will be extremely mad at you. You know we had no warning-"

"It wasn't the dragon." Jongin interrupted Baekhyun's laugh and Kris' grunt of indignation. "It was..."

Baekhyun kept smiling through, trying still to laugh. 

"It was... you."

"Me? Why Jongin, how flattering."

Baekhyun pushed aside the feeling of unease. He wondered if Kris was paying attention and if so, if he could use the qunari to his advantage. He rolled onto one side, the better to leer across the large bed at Jongin. With one hand holding up his head he grinned and batted his eyelashes, gleefully watching the warrior's reaction. A red blush blossomed on Jongin's cheek and neck. It flared up twice as bad when Baekhyun said next, "You know, Jongin. You're quite sexy out of that armor. You should wear normal clothes more often. Shows off the true definition of your muscles this way." He reached out to swipe the tips of his fingers across Jongin's arm, smirking when the muscles fluttered nervously against his touch.

From across the room Kris coughed awkwardly. 

"Uhm, what?" said Jongin, the beginnings of panic and embarrassment flooding his entire face. 

"Do you know how nice it is to be clean again, real soap and hot water. Clean clothes and a bed that's not the ground?" Baekhyun didn't even glance away from Jongin's face. He ignored the sounds of gushing water as it rolled down Kris' body. The qunari seemed bent on getting out rather hurriedly. Baekhyun let his gaze wander just down, fingers and eyes both exploring the rest of his arm. All the way down to his wrist and then back up again.

"I think I'm going to...go check on..." Kris coughed again as he sloshed water over the sides of the basin. It trickled down to the stone floor, and Jongin looked once before getting an eyeful. His eyes shot back to Baekhyun. 

"Sounds like a good plan, Kris. And hey, watch Tao for a bit too, yeah?" Baekhyun said without looking up.

Kris murmured something in assent, grabbed a pile of garments and fled from the room. 

Baekhyun laughed and moved his hand away. He rolled back onto his stomach and picked up his quill. At the sound of Jongin stuttering, he placed it in its case and shoved the parchment away. The hairs on the back of his neck seemed to bristle as he shoved himself up to his knees. "What did you see exactly?" he asked, still maneuvering on the bed.

"I..." Jongin hesitated. "I saw you... disappear into... nothing."

Baekhyun didn't look at him this time. He swallowed, sat up kneeling and his hands trembled just the tiniest bit. 

"You did? Must have been the smoke or something."

"It wasn't the smoke," Jongin insisted. 

"It wasn't?" Baekhyun fiddled with the sash, untying it and retying it around his waist nervously. He was pleased to hear the still airy tone of Jongin's voice. He'd spoken the truth about Jongin looking good without his armor, the few times he'd had occasion to really look. Jongin lived in that suit; he even slept in it most nights, fearful of having to wake up in a hurry. 

"There was no smoke at the time. But you, Baekhyun you vanished for a whole minute. You and... and..."

"Kyungsoo?" Baekhyun smiled and tilted his head. "Wow, I guess he must know a trace of magic after all to do that-"

"You did it." 

"What?" 

" _You_  can disappear.  _You_  can turn yourself invisible. You must be able to." Jongin's voice shook, but his tone was clear and his accusation was direct.

"Are you trying to  _persuade_  me that I can do that?" Baekhyun laughed weakly. He couldn't deny Jongin was getting to him, unmasking him, tearing away his disguise. He sat up straight to be more assertive, but Jongin met his glare, unwavering. 

"Baekhyun," said Jongin, "you were hired as our scout, I get that part. Skilled with a bow, well-travelled, highly recommended by someone close to Sehun's grandfather... What else are you, actually?"

"What do you mean, what else? I'm an elf. Dalish-born, didn't like the tribe, and now I'm a roamer. I do scouting for caravans for gold-"

"Like a mercenary?"

"Yeah, but I don't like that term. I prefer scout. Archer.  _Elf_ , if you insist."

"No elf likes to be called that."

Baekhyun eyed him up and down carefully, warily. "And every human cringes at the word  _human_? It's just what I am, Jongin." 

"You had to have trained somewhere," the other insisted. "Your skills. They're good. They're better than good. You're comfortable in the wild, you're comfortable in a city. You're comfortable anywhere."

"I could get comfortable in your lap."

Jongin hissed in surprise, Baekhyun crawling closer, but even so he continued to speak. "You can make yourself invisible... how, where... did you learn that?"

Baekhyun approached him cautiously. He touched a hand to Jongin's shoulder, knees edging against each other. The bed wasn't all that large; they'd already been close to begin with. "It's just stealth, Jongin. Everyone can learn to be sneaky with a little training." He circled his other hand along the ridge of Jongin's shoulder, fingers dancing along the exposed skin of his neckline. Jongin drew up quiet, breath hitching softly, shallowly. Baekhyun leaned in, inches from his face. He wrapped his hands until his fingers touched along the back of the warrior's neck. 

"Why did you send Kris out of the room?" Jongin whispered.

Baekhyun shrugged. "Is a little privacy that much to ask for?"

Up close, his breath ghosted against Jongin's face. The muscles there were taut but beginning to unwind the closer Baekhyun got. 

"He... Kris said that only a few sects of people know how... how to do that."

"How to what?" Baekhyun spoke right against Jongin's mouth. 

"Vanish into thin air." Their lips touched as they talked, and Jongin shivered. 

"Hmmm." Baekhyun closed his eyes.

"So which is it?"

"Which is what?" He swung his other knee up over the warrior's lap and rested there, keeping just from sitting down. 

"Which are you. Spy? Assassin? Thief?"

"Is that really all you can think about right now?" Baekhyun pressed a chaste kiss right onto Jongin's lips, moaning softly at the touch. 

Jongin didn't pull away, but his eyes too were closed shut. He retracted his lips just enough to ask, "Are you trying to seduce me into not asking?"

"Can't I do that for personal reasons as well?" He kissed him again, but in the next second Jongin had them flipped over with Baekhyun pressed into the bed. Jongin groaned and kissed him deeply this time and Baekhyun didn't hold anything back. He pulled and tugged as Jongin continued to clamber on top of him. Knees knocked against hips, elbows falling slack against the mattress. And after all those weeks of only looking and just barely touching, Baekhyun gave in to it all. 

 

 

 

 

 

"And then, we were just sitting there playing with Suho-sorry,  _Junhee's_  hair," Tao exclaimed wildly, "when Kris practically flew into the room... naked!" The boy devolved into a fit of shocked expressions and general exasperation while Luhan affected to chuckle, Minseok grinned where appropriate, and Chanyeol's whole face turned into a sneer that read something like, 'Help me now?'

"Sounds... fun," said Luhan weakly. 

Minseok put a hand to the templar's forehead and frowned. Between him and Chanyeol, they had managed to get Luhan half a bath and at least into some fresh clothes. He'd already sweet-talked Seungyeon into passing along a message to a known lyrium merchant. Minseok had met the dwarf many years before. He hoped he still had a base of operations in Orzammar. Everything was riding on that letter, for inside it was hidden a message to be delivered to Dust Town, to Suho's casteless sister. Sometime he would have to get the full story out of the dwarf. For now, they all needed that connection to work. 

"You didn't correct her about your name." Chanyeol's deep voice echoed in the room even though he spoke quietly.

"No," said Minseok. He checked the door again, opening and closing it to be sure that all the servants were out of range. "There's power in that name. If they think I am really Xiumin, they will treat us well."

"I think you forgot about the part where we're being held here though."

Minseok sighed. "Lord Yibo and his guards maybe, but the servants don't know that."

"How can you be certain?"

"I'm not. But Luhan is ill, and he's a templar. They won't want to risk harming him when he's under protection of House Zygmunt. Too much trouble might come of that."

Chanyeol grunted. "I'm not convinced."

Minseok nodded. He wasn't entirely convinced either, but until they could figure out what was going on - or rather, what Xiumin wanted - Minseok would wait. The tall warrior's mood was only marginally annoying, but he didn't blame him. Chanyeol, as Minseok was aware, had probably been asked by Jongin to stay with them and keep watch. A friendly, known spy, but Minseok didn't mind. He'd be wary too if he was Jongin. Sehun was lost; they were trapped. Sehun was with Kyungsoo, a fact Minseok wasn't worried about. Kyungsoo would keep Sehun safe, and as long as Minseok had the ring, he was reasonably sure the man wouldn't go far. 

He fingered it guiltily. Still in its cloth wrapping, still buried deep in an inside pocket of his robes. He should tell Luhan. He really wanted to. But in the templar's current state, he dared not agitate him further, especially with Chanyeol around, and now Tao. The former werewolf had taken a cautious interest in everything, including Minseok. Since his last outburst about the naked qunari, he'd settled down. He sat on the bed between Luhan and Minseok and when Minseok put his hand to measure Luhan's temperature, he did the same. 

"He's warm. Minseok, he's warm. Why is he warm?"

Luhan smiled wanly. "It's because I feel bad." 

Tao looked at Minseok for confirmation, and the mage nodded. Chanyeol moved about the room restlessly, tinkering with the furniture and the few odds and ends scattered on tables or shelves. Tao put a hand to his own forehead. "I feel warm, but I'm okay. Am I sick too? How do I know if I'm sick? Minseok, you really don't know how to cure ly-ly, what's it called?"

"Lycanthropy. No, I can't."

"I thought maybe all mages could," the boy pouted. 

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know." Tao shrugged. "It just seemed like mages did things like that..."

"Things like what?"

"Be scary. Be mean."

Minseok smiled at him, hoping that took some of the sting out of who he was. A mage, Xiumin's brother. Tao was easily susceptible to smiles and kind language. "Tao, how long were you a werewolf?"

"I don't know." He frowned, as if the question had no merit. 

"He doesn't know much about anything," Chanyeol supplied. "Baekhyun talked to him for a long time, but he doesn't know."

Hearing the name, Tao popped off the bed and pranced around the room. "Kris said not to bother Baekhyun right now! Or Jongin. I don't know why."

Chanyeol coughed. "Uhm, what?"

For half a second he and Minseok and Luhan all looked at one another, and then they laughed. It all went above Tao's head and he frowned and pouted some more until Minseok waved him to come back over and sit down beside him. Instead, Tao walked to the other side of the bed. Then he lay down, head resting next to Luhan's hip and he yawned. Minseok let him rest for a few minutes. They all needed to recuperate and being shut up like this wasn't doing them any favors, especially for Tao who had likely spent all of his life outdoors. Eventually though, he needed to know.

"Tao, I need your help.  _We_  need your help."

Tao lifted his head and blinked. "Luhan too?" 

"Yes, Luhan too."

"He saved the scary mage from killing us all."

"Which mage?" Minseok felt he should ask.

"The one in the other room. Yixing? He smells weird to me, but I guess he isn't that bad. He knew how to style Junhee's hair so that it looks pretty."

"That's... good." Minseok stifled a grin and pretended he wasn't aware of Luhan's hand snaking across the bedspread to hold onto his. "So, about... my brother. Xiumin."

"Xiumin?" Tao looked scared again. "He... I don't know what he wanted. I think, I think--" 

He didn't get to finish that statement. Minseok wasn't going to press him because talking about Xiumin seemed to put Tao into a frazzled state. He didn't need to worry about that though anyways. The door to the room flung open, untouched by anyone. Chanyeol jumped, his hand automatically reaching for the sword he no longer had. Minseok lept off the bed to put some defensive room between him and Luhan. Tao gasped loudly and dropped to the floor. Only his eyebrows showed above the frame of the bed. 

"What's... who's there?" Chanyeol demanded loudly, fists up and ready for the attack.

Nothing of the sort happened. Instead, someone laughed. And then out of thin air, Baekhyun appeared before them. Chanyeol started and yelped anyways. Tao ducked again under the bed. Minseok didn't move, for he already suspected this. 

"Surprise!" said the elf. 

Minseok smirked. "Stealth. Nice. Why the reveal now?"

Baekhyun still looked a bit transparent but he grew more solid until he stood there like nothing had happened. "Well, I didn't realize I'd been seen before. Jongin found out. Oops. Anyways."

Chanyeol had recovered but he still stuttered stupidly for a moment. "So... so you  _can_  turn invisible."

"It's called,  _stealth_ ," Baekhyun repeated. "And anyways. It comes in handy. Great party trick. Look, since I've been found out, and I'm feeling mighty refreshed right now," he took a second to smile goofily, "I figured I should use this neat skill and do some reconnaissance. Minseok, you in?"

 

 

 

> CODEX UPDATED:
> 
> Found in a rusty niche behind a stone pot in the Diamond Quarter, in beautiful, scriptive handwriting.
> 
>  
> 
> _**Hello my fellow travelers, if you are reading this I can assume you have_ _ventured  out and_ _been allowed entry into the impressive city that is Orzammar. Home of nugs, angry dwarves, and confused visitors, Orzammar is a magical place that calls the ever attractive Deep Roads its neighbor. Yes, that is right- you are only a hop, skip, and swoop away from all sorts of nasty creatures. Feeling comfortable? You should be! Not only does Orzammar offer danger teeming at its borders, but it also has amazing accommodations!_
> 
> _Stone beds, ale, and the sweet sounds of noblemen threatening each other are assured perks of even the most basic of accommodations in the city. Of course, with higher end accommodations such as those offered in the Diamond Quarter you may be assured of further amenities. The threat of regime changes, dodging assassins sent by other dwarven houses, and getting lost amid nonsensical floor plans are part of any luxury stay in the city._
> 
> _If you grow bored with attempting to understand who hates who and where to find the door, then I suggest a trip to the proving grounds, a lovely arena which harkens back to a simpler time. Yes, of course I am referring to fighting and not just any fighting – GAMBLING and fighting! Indeed, Orzammar is a bastion for the high minded, intellectual traveler._
> 
> _I hope your stay in Orzammarr is as relaxing as mine has been. Now if I can figure out how to get out of here, I am leaving and never coming back._
> 
> _~Your trusty travelling advisor, Baekhyun_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Codex written by London9Calling  
> http://archiveofourown.org/users/London9Calling


	29. Xiumin

Sehun rubbed his head, hissing for perhaps the tenth time when he found the growing lump. Kyungsoo said it was from where he fell during the battle and hit his head, but in fact, Sehun knew quite well that the 'rock' he had struck was more likely Kyungsoo's fist.

"Quit fidgeting," the man whispered now, gloved hand nudging Sehun along in the back.

When he'd come to, the smaller man was hovering over him, urging him to get up. Then they and Alistair met up with a dwarf named Jackson who had a cart hitched to a donkey. In between scowling over his bruised head and fending off the mabari hound's licking, Kyungsoo explained quickly that their friends had been taken inside at sword-point.

"But why?" Sehun had asked. Kyungsoo had no answer.

They were now inside great Orzammar itself. Sehun was sweating profusely, rivulets of moisture literally cascading down his back, front, everything, from the robes Kyungsoo had made him wear. He now dressed oddly like Kyungsoo and, because of how they were sitting in the back of the cart, about the same height. Alistair they'd covered in a blanket so no one would see.

"I still don't understand. So we're sneaking in here, why?" Sehun grumbled, his eyes dancing around, taking in everything that could be seen. Circumstances or not, the thaig was fascinating. Sehun had never seen so many dwarves before. Many years before his tutors gave lectures on the dwarven kingdom. It seemed so otherworldly in books, in pictures. His main question then had been if they dwarves ever suffered from claustrophobia. Now he just wondered how they all managed not to melt.

"Donkey!" cried Jackson from up front. The dwarf walked beside the animal, leading it through the crowds. "Donkey, coming through. Make way! Donkey!"

"As if they can't see it's a donkey," Sehun muttered.

Kyungsoo shushed him with just a look. Then the man sighed and said, "Let's try to keep a low profile, alright? It would be nice if we didn't make a big impression down here. Everyone would have already seen the others paraded through. Let's not tip off the people who did that, okay?"

"But won't they notice we're not dwarves?"

"Doesn't matter. There are lots of surfacers down here. Merchants come and go all the time. Just keep that hood over your face. And the mask, put the mask back on."

Sehun readjusted the mouthpiece with a grimace. It was just a thin strip of gray cloth that covered his nose and mouth. Kyungsoo explained that lots of dwarves used them while mining to keep out the dust. And apparently, they were headed in some such vicinity.

"I don't like this thing," said Sehun.

He expected Kyungsoo to grumble at him some more, but instead the man smirked humorously. "You'll be thankful for it later when no one here can remember your face."

"You think I'm that noticeable?" Sehun asked.

"Quite striking." Kyungsoo winked.

Jackson halted the cart several minutes later in front of a modest stone archway. "We're here. Come on out."

Kyungsoo and Sehun jumped down and followed him through the door. Another dwarf who introduced himself as Mark took the donkey and lead it away. He didn't even appear troubled when Jackson looked around suspiciously, and then let out the hound. Alistair kept silent and he trotted quickly inside behind them. Sehun, however, had eyes only for the interior of the shop, as he realized now it was. Swords and armor of the finest dwarven craftsmanship were arrayed out in displays all throughout the room. The shopkeeper himself greeted them as they came in, but then sighed when he saw Jackson following.

"Ev'ning, Jackson. More tourists, eh? Go on through. Your granddad's waiting there."

Tourists. That was the other word Sehun did not understand, but Kyungsoo had explained it only briefly, outside the mountains.

"We're touring the Deep Roads, see? It's our cover. It's also highly illegal."

"So why are we doing it then?" Sehun had asked.

"Because I paid Jackson and his grandmother a lot of gold to smuggle us into Orzammar."

"You're smuggling us in, when we could have walked?"

"Do you have papers proclaiming you're part of the merchants' guild?" Kyungsoo asked, and Sehun shook his head. "There's something suspicious going on here. Something that has to do with Minseok's brother, and I need to find out what. _We_ need to find out," he reemphasized.

He looked just a bit mad, this stranger Sehun thought he knew, and sometimes thought he didn't know at all. "Why are you so eager to help? You could just leave, you know?"

"What, and leave you to fend for yourself, Sehun?" Kyungsoo tutted even as he smiled, and something in his eyes sent shivers through Sehun's spine. He didn't know if they were good shivers though, or bad.

 

 

 

 

 

Sneaking around the estate of House Zygmunt was surprisingly easy, when you were invisible, Minseok thought. Baekhyun of course, had to boast about this out loud.

“Pretty nifty, yeah?”

“Shush,” the mage warned him.

They were invisible, but still audible. They were also still solid, as Minseok learned when Baekhyun quickly pulled him into a niche in the stone while a few servants passed through.

Minseok wrenched himself away from the elf’s hold as soon as they were gone.

“Tell me again why you invited me out with you?” he asked. “I thought you hated my guts and wanted me dead?”

Baekhyun chuckled low. “Maybe I still do. Maybe I don’t. Oh, but don’t let your guard down on my account. Either way I don’t entirely trust you, but my mama always said, keep your friends close, and your enemies-”

“I get the picture, thanks,” Minseok sighed.

They fell silent again as they turned a corner, spying two household soldiers guarding either end of a large austere door.

“Lord Yibo?” Baekhyun whispered.

Minseok didn’t answer, but it became clear as they neared.

The door was opened by a servant, Seungyeon running from the room looking harassed and grumpy. She muttered to herself and the guards laughed discretely, but when she turned around and glared, they each shut up.

“Little lordling is impatient,” she grumbled. “Little lordling wants his meal. How am I supposed to get anything done when he won’t even listen to reason!?”

Baekhyun and Minseok held still as she passed, now muttering even more about hoping the guests were rested enough so that they could get on with the evening.

“Seems like this is our chance?” Baekhyun whispered.

Minseok nodded and together, they stalked towards the door, waiting for some to appear from either side and open the door. They waited barely a minute before Seungyeon returned bearing a tray with a single metal cup and some morsels, and this time they slipped in behind her before the door could shut.

Lord Yibo indeed.

Minseok filtered through memories, placing the face on the young dwarf sitting on the dais ahead. He couldn’t possibly be older than fifteen years of age. He had a thin face, especially for a dwarf, dark black hair that fell in waves across his head, bored eyes and a bored smile.

Minseok recognized the dwarf he was speaking with, Wenhan of the household guard.

“My lord, if you would just explain what we are waiting for, I could-”

“Silence, please,” said Yibo with a sigh. He placed a hand to his forehead and rubbed his temples, displeased with something. He didn’t look at Wenhan as he spoke. “When the mage tells me, only then shall we act.”

“The mage… but he is with the others?”

“Wenhan, what did I say?” Another tired grumble. “I just want to eat something. Don’t you have something to, I don’t know, guard?”

In the corner of the room, unseen by anyone else, Baekhyun and Minseok shared a look, and no more.

So Wenhan _didn’t_ know who Xiumin was, or that Minseok wasn’t him. It was as Minseok expected, but it did not answer any of his questions. It seemed only Lord Yibo knew, which made him wonder what would happen when he met Minseok. Would he be surprised, or was it all part of his plan, and what was that plan? To detain Minseok only? Or did Xiumin have perhaps a more sinister plot? If this was the case, why was he coming at them sideways, using a dwarf lord who shouldn’t even have been the heir.

Yibo had an older brother, this Minseok remembered distinctly. Yixuan, of House Zygmunt. And Yixuan should have inherited the seat Lord Yibo was even now sitting upon.

Minseok checked the door. Time was not their friend. Even if Xiumin were not part of this picture, threatening his life and the life of all of his friends, even if Luhan was not weak and ill, even if Minseok really wished they could stay and observe for longer, Baekhyun’s power was not unlimited. They had maybe ten minutes before the elf would grow weak, and their bodies became visible. They needed to make their escape and still have time to scope out the rest of the dwelling place.

The elf nudged him, silently agreeing to the same thing. Together they crept from the corner and tiptoed towards the door.

That was when Lord Yibo spoke again.

“The templar… he makes this whole thing very complicated.”

Minseok spun around silently. The dwarf addressed Seungyeon, still standing beside him with her tray.

“Yes, my Lord?” she responded dutifully.

“He needs lyrium, you said?”

She nodded. “Yes, my Lord. I sent the request to the merchant an hour ago.”

Lord Yibo tiredly waved away her words and sighed again, long and troubled. For a dwarf so young, he carried a world of stress. It marred his otherwise attractive features, giving him a petulant look.

After a few long seconds, he spoke again. “And has it come in?”

“Due to arrive shortly. Should I… give it to him?”

For the first time, Yibo lifted his resting head off his head and stared at her. “Are you insinuating we let a templar die in our house?”

“O-of course not, my Lord. I only thought… you said it was unfortunate he was here with the mage, and…”

Yibo waved his hand distractedly. “It is. It _is_ quite unfortunate, but we’ll have to figure that out later.”

“ _We_ , my Lord?”

“No, not you, of course not you. Do you think you could figure all this out? Idiot dust breather. Of course we’ll give it to him, but… not yet. Not right now. We’ll wait a while first. If the templar is immobile, they’ll be less likely to leave.”

Minseok held his breath, fear and anger coursing through his heart.

The servant appeared even more confused.

“So, we _don’t_ give it to him, my Lord?”

“Perhaps tomorrow. Perhaps now. We shall have to see... Now take this tray away and leave me, please. I’m tired.”

Despite his anger, Minseok knew this might be their only chance to move. They had to get out. He had to find a way to intercept the delivery, to snag the potion before Lord Yibo and his people could deprive Luhan of it longer. Baekhyun was already moving, one step ahead of him as they prepared to follow Seungyeon through the door. But just as she reached it, Lord Yibo stopped her again.

“And see to it that none of our guests leave their rooms until dinner! Won't do to let them wander too much. Wenhan, you go with her.”

The soldier bowed in acquiescence. Again, Minseok and Baekhyun darted out of his path. Only this time, Baekhyun knocked accidentally against a side table. A bejeweled golden cup wobbled dangerously for a long, breathless second… and then tipped off the table, crashing onto the floor.

All eyes in the room struck to where they stood, invisible, but alone.

“Wenhan…” Lord Yibo’s voice carried across the chamber. “I hate to sound so suspicious, but… might it be possible we are not alone in this room?”

 

 

 

 

If Luhan had any power in the world, right now he would wish he could disappear. Preferably to vanish into thin air like Baekhyun but then wake up back in his cozy bed in the Circle Tower in Redcliffe. Even better if he could reverse a whole chunk of his life and go back to the time before joining the templar ranks.

Everything was simpler then, in the country of his people, his family. Sure, there was the danger of someone challenging his valor and having to duel for the honor of a family which treated Luhan like an extra appendage, but at least he learned to fight.

Most of the time, being a templar wasn’t so bad. An order of men, sworn to the Chantry, protectors of the faith and of the helpless, defenders against the evils of magic. He had nothing to doubt before. Orders were orders and his purpose was clear. It was a hard life Luhan didn’t think he was necessarily suited for, but it was a living and it gave him purpose.

Until now.

All that was before he heard the name Xiumin, of course. Before he met and… could he admit it… fell in love with Minseok, a mage. An apostate mage on the run from both the templar order, and his very own brother.

Addiction. Luhan thought long and hard about that word, lying in bed ill and disoriented, waiting for Minseok to come back. Chanyeol was making him dizzy, pacing back and forth, around the bed, fretting and muttering under his breath. Tao, the poor boy, was worn out by everything that had happened today, and probably by his own existence. He stretched out lengthwise across the foot of the bed while Luhan wrestled with his own consciousness.

His head ached, his whole body defeated, every function of his mind craving a drug of which he had no more. He could barely even move his arms and legs, so depleted he felt with every lengthening second. He’d heard of templars who left the order. Cut off from the source of their power, the effects of lyrium withdrawal were horrendous, it was said. Some had even died.

But there were two things he was addicted to: lyrium, and a certain mage. And he felt perhaps that he needed both to survive.

“Chanyeol, please,” he begged the warrior with a sigh. “Can you… stop dancing?”

“Dancing? Oh, you mean pacing, sorry. I’m… nervous.”

“I know, but… it’s making me ill. I’m sorry.”

Tao picked his head off the bed to scowl as well, and Chanyeol, apologetically, sat down on a stone chair instead. He made it no longer than five minutes, his knee bouncing obnoxiously before he apologized again.

“I’ll just go see how the others are doing.”

Luhan breathed a little easier with him gone. Tao continued to rest, not quite asleep but silent and peaceful. It distracted Luhan from worrying about Minseok and Baekhyun, wondering how they were getting on outside, when they would come back, _if_ they would come back.

It was Tao who heard it first, soft footsteps approaching from the other side of the door. His ears must be extra sensitive, because sat up abruptly before Luhan even heard it. Tao sniffed the air and looked afraid. Something in his manner made Luhan’s heart beat, unease taking ahold of his mind even above the symptoms of withdrawal.

“Tao? What is it?” He struggled to pick himself up from the pillows, torso supported by his elbows and his head felt like a million tons.

“Something scary,” said the boy. In a flash he rolled off the bed and disappeared from the line of sight.

The door crashed open.

Luhan gasped and then froze. Minseok stood there- but no, not Minseok.

A man who looked just like him.

He must be dreaming. It must be the delirium taking control of his brain, conjuring images before him that could not be.

The man who was not Minseok approached silently, one foot and then the other. He wore long blue robes, a mage’s uniform, Orlesian in origin, Luhan thought. And his face… so similar.

“You…” Luhan squeaked, trying to raise a hand. He faltered though and fell back down on the bed, helpless.

“Hello, Luhan,” said the mage.

Though his eyes were glazed, Luhan stared at the man, squinting and blinking, taking in every feature of his face. They were so similar, almost identical. He might even believe they could be one and the same. Maybe they were. Maybe there never was another mage named Xiumin, and Minseok had made it all up. An alter ego, a darker conscience.

“So good to see you, Luhan,” said the mage.

And no, his voice was different. Barely perceptible, but Luhan could tell the difference.

“What… what are you… what do you want?” His voice stuttered. He had no energy, no power, and no strength. Tao was hiding, all the others were in the room next door. Luhan wished now that he hadn’t chased Chanyeol away. How could it be that he ended up all alone with the most dangerous blood mage he’d ever encountered? And where was Minseok?

“Minseok… please, what h-have you done with him?”

The mage smiled cheerfully. “Minseok… oh, so you’ve met Minseok? My evil twin?”

That made Luhan angry. “He’s not your twin,” he growled. “You’re two years apart. And _you’re_ the blood mage, you can’t lie to me, I’m a templar.”

A bluff, but a good one, Luhan surmised.

Xiumin raised his eyebrows, sneering. “I’m almost impressed, Luhan. Aren’t you the big scary templar here.”  

“I asked you what you wanted.”

He came closer, knees up against the side of Luhan’s bed. Luhan held back a tremble as the mage gazed down on him. There was no hiding his weakened state. All Luhan had right now was his dignity, and not even much of that.

“You wound me, Luhan. I don’t want anything. Or well, not from you.”

“Then…?”

Xiumin leaned over, a hand laying delicately against the blanket. Minseok’s hand, the same form, shape, small and delicate, but powerful. How could they look the same, sound the same? They couldn’t be the same? Right? Another wave of fear coursed down his body, head to toes, a chill he could not chase away. Was it possible, that he had it wrong after all?

But no, it couldn’t be.

“You’re sick, Luhan. I came to meet you before…”

“Before, what? Before I die?” Luhan choked out bitterly.

Xiumin laughed. “Die? You think you’ll die because you haven’t had your daily dose of lyrium? Luhan… aren’t you a pretty one.”

Luhan bristled, turning his gaze away from the mage who hovered above him. He heard rustling and sure he was about to die. The mage’s hands disappeared within his robes. Luhan had to look, he had to know. In what manner would Xiumin kill him? A poison, a spell? Was Tao still hidden? Would he be able to escape and tell the world how Luhan had died?

“Here. Take it.”

Something landed beside him, a small blue vial. Luhan couldn’t believe his eyes.

“That’s not…”

“Lyrium? Oh, but it is.”

Luhan glared at him, once again letting their eyes meet, matching him with as much integrity as Luhan could muster. “You’re lying. You’ve poisoned it, haven’t you?”

Xiumin held his hands up innocently. “I see you’ve learned a good lesson about mages.”

“What do you mean?” Luhan sneered.

Xiumin chuckled, but he stepped back. The vial glistened on the bed between them. “Mages are tricky, that’s what you’ve always heard, yes? What templars have been taught, indoctrinated with over and over, brainwashed, you might say. Well, most of time, it’s probably true. What secrets we have, the disciplines we learn. The ways we must protect ourselves from people like you.”

There was bitterness there, but also a contempt so deep that it burned inside Luhan’s soul.

“I’m not here to kill you, Luhan. The potion is clean. It’s pure lyrium, and I’m not lying about that.”

“Why would you give it to me then?” he spat, still untrusting.

“A goodwill offering.”

“For what? Why?”

Xiumin didn’t answer. He stepped closer to the bed though. Luhan’s scalp burned from where he touched him, a gentle trace against his forehead, fingers curling in his bangs. Luhan moved his hand to swipe it away, but Xiumin recoiled faster. He laughed.

“It’s good that you don’t trust mages. Why don’t you ask my brother what he’s hiding. Yes, even from you, he keeps secrets. It runs in the family, what can I say?”

“Minseok keeps no lies from me.”

Again, another laugh. “Is that what you think? Then you’re more naive than I anticipated. Come now, Luhan, we both know you’re not that stupid. Shall I tell you a secret?”

“No.”

“No?” Xiumin smiled. “I’ll tell you anyways. Since you won’t believe anything against your precious lover - ohh, how lucky my brother must be - then maybe you’ll hear something about his friend?” He ticked his head sideways and murmured a gentle, “hmm?” 

It was almost sweet, that sound. The same gesture, same curious hum that Minseok often expressed. If Luhan closed his eyes it might be exactly the same. Minseok asking a silly question, begging Luhan to answer. 

With great bitterness Luhan asked, “Which friend?”

A smile of success flashed across Xiumin’s lips, and he bent down again, breath tickling Luhan’s ear. Luhan struggled not to tremble, wishing he hadn’t asked.

“It’s about Yixing…”

The words echoed, soft as they were, Luhan’s eyes widening in disbelief, in surprise, at what Xiumin said, the things he claimed.

Lies, they were obviously lies. Luhan refused to believe it at all. This had to be a trap, a snare, a ploy to separate Luhan from everything he obviously knew, from his allies.

But Xiumin straightened up, and Luhan gulped, knowing he would think on this forever. Even if it was untrue...

“Say hello to my brother, if you see him again.” Xiumin winked and began to walk away. At the door he paused and looked outside. Then he peered back one more time and smiled.

“Lovely to meet you, Luhan. And you, Tao. We’ll meet again, I just know it.”


	30. A Story of Dwarven Houses

Baekhyun thought quickly in a jam. Had Minseok more time to consider this, he'd have been impressed and maybe even would have admitted it aloud. Instead, he found himself shoved backwards behind a partially obtrusive statue and told, "Stay here and hide!" in the loudest whisper the elf dared to voice.

They were still invisible, but not unnoticed.

"Whoever's here, you are commanded to freeze!" cried the the dwarven guard leader Wenhan.

Only Minseok could see the glimmering outline of Baekhyun's profile and face, a hand against his lips as if warning Minseok not to fight back. Whatever the elf had planned, it was clear he would do it alone. Minseok dragged his limbs out of view of the chamber and slide as far back behind the statue as he could, prepared for the moment when Baekhyun's enchantment wore off.

As soon as he was covered, Baekhyun dashed to the other side of the room, purposefully knocking another another plate to distract them. Nobody was looking in Minseok's direction, and yet every dwarven soldier had his weapon unsheathed and ready to swing by the time Baekhyun properly reappeared by the door.

"Elf! It's the elf!" Wenhan shouted.

From the dais, Lord Yibo sat forward in alarm. "The elf? What's he doing here?!"

The guards drew near, pointed swords arrayed out in a semi-circle as they blocked Baekhyun to the wall. Without armor, without weapons, Baekhyun looked small and harmless. He even grinned at his would-be attackers, blinking curiously as if this was all a grand mistake.

"Oh my, oops! How did I get in this room?" Baekhyun tittered. He paid no attention whatsoever to the steel threatening his neck.

None of the guards moved, but they wavered hesitantly as if in surprise. Lord Yibo drew himself off his throne and stalked forward. "Answer us, elf. How did you get in this room, and why have you been spying?"

"Spying?" Baekhyun repeated haughtily. "I've not been spying. I was happily lying in my room waiting on dinner, and the next thing I knew, I was here."

"Nonsense," said Yibo. "That isn't possible. I'll ask you again, and you have one chance to answer correctly or else-"

"Or else, what?" asked Baekhyun. He rolled his head from side to side, stretching out the cricks in his neck. "I'm mightily confused, my Lord. Lord Yibo, was it? Look we were invited to be your guests, I had a super lovely bath. I told you, I think I must have been teleported here. Or else drugged, how would I know. Oh wait- was it the bath water?! But my Lord Yibo, I don't understand!"

His outburst worked to keep the guards from acting. They stood about confused, and from his hidden corner in the room, Minseok saw the seedlings of doubt in Lord Yibo's very young, very inexperienced face.

"This is the work of magic. Do you deny it?" he asked Baekhyun one more time.

"Magic! But not of the mages I know," said Baekhyun. He made to get up, but at the shifting of the dwarves' stances, plopped back down on the ground. Instead, he sat down and stretched his legs out before him, arms up to show he meant no harm. "What spell can muddle with someone's head like this? I could swear on... oh, say, one of your paragons, that I am just as clueless as you. Is there another mage around that you know of?"

Minseok held his breath watching Yibo shudder at the affront to his blessed paragon ancestors, but again, he appeared uncertain.

"I know not what game you're playing, elf-"

"Please, my name is Baekhyun."

"-Baekhyun, then! I don't know what you mean to accomplish, Baekhyun! But I promise this House Zygmunt will not tolerate it. Guards, lock him up in a separate chamber until I can ask Xiu- until I can ask someone about this."

"Wait, you mean I'm a prisoner?" barked Baekhyun, astounded.

"Now! Wenhan, take him away _now_! And see that none of the other _guests_ hear about this!"

Baekhyun put up a loud fuss when they carried him away, but did not fight back. Minseok watched and waited, all the guards but one leaving in another direction where Minseok had not yet been. Only Lord Yibo remained, a single guard by his side. He held a hand to his head and pulled at his hair, face overcome with indecision. Minseok dared not move even a muscle in case he was caught. They had come out to scope the place, not end up locked in a separate cell. Even better, Minseok was now on his own, fully visible and without a staff. He could no doubt use his magic just as he was, but without something to channel it, it was always risky. And unless he wanted to be caught, he would have to either stay put and wait, or find a moment to slip out.

His chance came soon. The maid Seungyeon reappeared in the entryway, her face askance as he looked at the young dwarf lord.

"Lord Yibo?"

He ignored her for a moment, and she did not approach. But then Yibo sighed loudly and made a face, and a second later he looked calm and collected. He smiled at her. "Yes?"

She hesitated. "W-would you still like to eat soon, or..."

"Or...?" Yibo deliberated. A moment later he made a noise of clarification and nodded several times. "Send a snack to my chambers. I will wait there since it seems safer... oh, and you-" he directed the remaining guard. "Keep your eyes open for any mischief, and then you can tell Wenhan to find me there. I don't like this situation... I don't like it at all..."

A minute later, Minseok was alone in the room.

 

 

 

Far below the Diamond Quarter, another imposter roamed.

Kyungsoo adjusted his robes and pulled the hood down to cover more of his face. He was back in the Commons, taking advantage of his short height to blend in with the dwarves around him. It wouldn't do to sit around in the shop and wait, not when he had not a single clue about what was going on. He'd left Sehun and Alistair behind. He was confident the 'tourist agency' would keep them safe and hidden. The remainder of Kyungsoo's coin was on his person, and without it, they wouldn't leave him behind.

Most of the entrances to the Deep Roads were situated in the Commons. Soldiers guarded them carefully, checking identification from those in the miner's guild. The everyday dwarves of Orzammar had little business descending any further below. The Deep Roads were ancient and on the verge of ruin. Cave-ins and collapses, rumors of Darkspawn infestations. Once upon a time, they spanned the whole of Ferelden and Orlais, but now they were abandoned. Only those who had a need to be down there, mining the thaig's precious metals and gems, passed through those doors under the heavy guard of seasoned veteran soldiers. Who knew what monsters lurked in the deep. Well, Kyungsoo had an idea, since he'd spent half his life belowgrounds. 

Lucky for Kyungsoo that not every passage struck out just from the Commons. Luckier too that he knew a few faces, or that a few faces still recognized him, like Jackson's grandmother. Smugglers and thieves abounded in plenty, but Kyungsoo's former master's people always knew how to identify one of their own. As soon as Kyungsoo could scour the marketplace for a hint of what was going on, he could start making plans.

Asking questions about House Zygmunt turned out to be easy. Kyungsoo pursed through wares, haggled with a few shopkeepers and dropped a few names. He was fruitful soon enough, eagerly lapping up the gossip of young Lord Yibo and his criminally banished older brother. Changes in the nobility and hierarchy were as common as dust, and yet everyone liked a good story.

"Heard he was sent surface top, ohh... 'bout a month after that other young lord. What was his name again? Jun, Jun-somebody or what have you." The gems dealer, an unseasonably chubby dwarf even for his kind, jostled around his wares while Kyungsoo tried to place the facts. "Dunno why exactly. Was it treason?"

A neighboring merchant burst in with a sigh and told Kyungsoo eagerly, "Don't listen to him. Wasn't treason. Lord Yixuan, I heard, was just poking his nose into the affair of Lord Junmyeon - it was Junmyeon, wasn't it? - after that poor boy was exiled by his older brother."

"That's right..." said the first dealer. "House Kondrat, now there's a story for you."

Kyungsoo pilfered through a sets of accessories and trinkets while the two dwarves bantered back and forth, calling up tales of the scandal like they'd never get a chance to tell it again. He stifled a yawn, but since it was involving House Zygmunt, Kyungsoo determined to keep his ears open.

"Lord Namjoon runs that house now, and a better warrior is he than his half-brother, that's for sure, and yet-"

"Lord Junmyeon did nothing to earn exile!"

"Nothing except fail disastrously in the Proving Grounds. Tell me, Oggard, what warrior caste wants a son like that ruining the family name? Huh? His mother was a Noble hunter from Dust Town. Lowest of the low, but she was pretty enough to marry the late lord and give him a son after his first wife died. Shame the offspring was no good. Lord Namjoon was always the better dwarf there."

Kyungsoo dared insert a question to turn it back to House Zygmunt. "Was this... son of a Noble hunter friends then with Lord Yixuan?"

"You might call it that, yeah," Oggard admitted. "Pity."

"What happened?"

"Got caught up in House Kondrat's fall. Tried to argue Lord Namjoon in front of the Assembly that banishing Lord Junmyeon for 'supposed smuggling' was bad enough, but that Lord Namjoon had no business sending his father's wife back to Dust Town. Her and her daughter, poor thing."

"Oggard, don't you worry about that little dear. She'll do the same as her mother probably and catch some noble's eye. That's what those casteless women do best." The dwarf leered at Kyungsoo and then seemed to notice how Kyungsoo wasn't buying anything. "Hey, you got gold right? Best wares in Orzammar right here. I promise you won't find powder of nug toenail for any better quality in all of Ferelden and beyond!"

Kyungsoo hurriedly moved on. He tentatively pieced together from theirs and others' talk that Lord Yibo was a militant young thing, happy enough to be ruling in his once older brother's seat, and that he had a vicious collection of warriors always around. He saw a few of them now actually. They wore the same colors and crest as they swept through the marketplace. Clearly they had an agenda, but they also had Minseok-

But, it wasn't Minseok.

"Xiumin..." Kyungsoo whispered to himself. He slipped behind a vendor's stall and trailed along parallel to their route. They came to a stop in a darkened corner of the Commons where more soldiers held a man already captive.

Kyungsoo bent down and strained his eyes to get a good look at the man. How clever, he thought a moment later, that they had captured Heechul... The steward had run off outside as soon as they all started fighting. Kyungsoo had held Sehun back, but he didn't miss the back of the other man running towards the forest to get away from the blasts.

Apparently he hadn't gone far. Xiumin interrogated him now, and Kyungsoo crept forward as close as he dared to overhear the conversation.

"Your friends, where are they?"

It was astonishing, how similar they looked and spoke, Minseok and Xiumin. Heechul looked visibly perplexed, but since he hadn't glimpsed Minseok for more than a few moments, he answered in a scared, stunned whisper.

"I-I don't know? They were with you! I saw them come in!"

"Not those friends, the others ones..."

"Wh-which other ones?" Heechul panicked and shrank back. The soldiers held him on his knees but he was tall enough that Xiumin didn't have to bend too far to speak right into his face.

"The dark one, and the tall boy. Where are they? You came to Orzammar with them, now tell me where they are!"

"I... I don't know." Heechul flailed again, now in complete tears and his head wobbled where he struggled, gaze passing over where Kyungsoo crouched.

Kyungsoo sat back in a panic, heart rate starting to increase.

"Tell me!"

"I don't know where they went! I ran away, because of that other crazy mage, and I never saw the others! I'm just a nobody! Please, please let me go, I don't know anything!"

They took him away shortly afterwards, when it was clear Heechul couldn't or wouldn't say anything about why he'd been with Jongin and his party, or what the true purpose of their journey was. Heechul wouldn't know to even mention, after all. He thought he was speaking to Minseok, which meant nobody knew what Xiumin was after, not even Jongin who was haphazardly traveling far from his destination, or Sehun was who was just stuck tagging along. Kyungsoo doubted even Jongdae or Luhan could guess what a mage like Xiumin wanted them for, and certainly Sehun had no idea.

"Waste of time," he heard Xiumin complain bitterly, after they dragged Heechul off. "Without the other two, this whole thing was a waste of time."

"Ser?" asked one of House Zygmunt's guards, "what should I tell Lord Yibo?"

Kyungsoo kept himself very still and silent. If they found him now, the game was up.

"Tell Lord Yibo," Xiumin's tone was snarky, "that he can do whatever he wants. No wait. Tell him to hold them there another day at least. We'll have to let them go after that, but then we'll be able to follow. I can guarantee the other two who hold the artifacts won't go far, not without Minseok and the piece he carries. We'll let them do the work for us, let them reunite first. But keep up the search just in case."

Kyungsoo waited a long time in his hiding spot, waiting until the coast was completely clear. Then he made his way back to the shop he'd stashed Sehun in and said nothing about anything. Except for planning; he did a lot of that. His mind swam with one idea after another, littered through with Lord Yibos and Lord Yixuans, and some poor noble's daughter back in Dust Town.

Good thing, the only passages into the Deep Roads weren't just set back in Commons. Good thing, with the help of his new friends, if he could engineer this just right, he might be able to get everyone out and into the Deep Roads. The ones that opened secretly out from Dust Town.

 

 

 

 

"Hey, Suho?"

"Hmm?"

Jongdae hissed at Yixing, who promptly corrected himself. "Sorry. Junhee. Ohh, this whole renaming thing is difficult."

Suho looked at the mage who had yet to actually ask the question. "What is it?"

He pulled at his gown awkwardly and frowned into the reflection of a metal plate. The wig looked an absolute mess, but it was only because he couldn't keep his hands still. Everything about his costume bothered him, from the lumpy dress to the shoes, to the hair piece and the brush which Jongdae kept trying valiantly to use on him.

"Nothing," said the mage. "Just, you look a bit scared."

Suho grunted. Yixing, if anyone had ever bothered to ask him, scared Suho practically to death. Yixing sure looked nice enough, slim and handsome and youthful. Since they'd been locked in their chambers, he'd grown bored and conjured up his favorite bunny familiar to pass the time. The magical rodent sat on his lap while Yixing stroked it softly and played with its ears.

"Aren't you scared?" he returned the question noncommittally.

Yixing shrugged, as Suho expected him to do.

In the corner of the room sat Kris, ignoring everybody. Jongin paced around nervously, something he hadn't stopped doing ever since Baekhyun and Minseok left to scout around the estate. Jongin paused only when his and Chanyeol's pacing happened to meet up, and then the two would shuffle awkwardly around each other like a jig.

"Maybe I should go back and check on Luhan," Chanyeol suggested.

"Leave him," said Yixing. "You already said you were making him dizzy with all this pacing. He's fine. He's resting."

"He's sick," Chanyeol stated forcefully.

"Which is why I said, you won't help any. Let him rest. Minseok will be back soon, then I bet Luhan will feel great! And in the meantime, Tao is there."

"Tao," Chanyeol sighed unhappily, "is a _who knows how old_ once upon a time werewolf who acts like a child."

Their arguing made Suho upset. He closed his eyes and tried to block their words from reaching his head. Unfortunately, he wasn't very gifted in the mental practice of fortitude and instead of clearing his mind, he only opened it up again to the long ago days when he lived in an estate not unlike House Zygmunt. Or was it really so long ago? Perhaps it wasn't actually; only, a lot of things had happened since and normally he didn't have the luxury to dwell on it.

"Look, if everybody's so worried, I'll go check on him," Jongin interrupted.

No one had anything against that, especially since it was beter than him pacing. The warrior left the room in complete silence. A minute later, he came back in complete silence without nothing much to report. "He's just resting, like you said. Tao's sitting on the floor. Both are silent, nothing going on."

Yixing kicked back on the bed and continued petting the bunny. It gave Suho the creeps, how the mage could sit there with such an innocent looking creature that wasn't even a real creature. Yixing was the very opposite of a bunny. 

The elf mage caught him looking and he smirked. As if he knew that Suho knew. Come to think about it, he probably did.

Kris' stomach rumbled from hunger. Jongin took up his pacing. At least Chanyeol decided to sit down. 

Jongdae continued brushing Suho's hair. It was the only comfort to him right now.

  
 

And then the door burst open and Minseok came flying into the room looking panicked and paranoid. "They got Baekhyun!"

 


	31. The Art of Planning

That woke everyone up very quick. 

"What do you mean, they got Baekhyun?!" Jongin was the first to cry out. 

Minseok huffed and his body slumped over from the exertion, hands resting on his knees as he told them what happened with Baekhyun, and being caught by Lord Yibo, and the direction in which they'd dragged the squirming elf.  "Nobody followed me," he panted in conclusion. "And they didn't know I was there. Which means, they won't know that we suspect anything is wrong other than-"

"We have to get him back," Jongin interrupted. 

Minseok almost laughed, except that he was too tired. "I know, I know. Also, I'm also absolutely certain this is a scheme cooked up by my brother. Lord Yibo doesn't even know what's going on or what to do with us. He's just holding us here until he gets further instructions."

"Which means?" Chanyeol demanded.

"Which means," Minseok repeated slowly, "that we have an advantage." 

 

 

 

 

No one had entered the room since Jongin had come in and subsequently left. Luhan laid very still on the bed, listening. The walls were solid stone and almost nothing penetrated through them. It was starting to drive him a little mad. He missed Minseok, but then he was also wary, burdened with another tale - lies of course - told to him by Minseok's brother. He didn't want to believe it, but pieces of it made sense, almost against his will. The reason Yixing was here, the reason he'd tagged along. The way they obviously knew one another well, and how they'd kept that part secret, or tried to. Why! Why though?! And if Xiumin was going to tell Luhan only the half, why couldn't he just tell him the whole story? Was it to keep him confused, to increase the rate of his impending insanity?

He kept the bottle of lyrium clutched tightly in his grasp, under the blanket, inside his robes. 

"Tao, don't tell anybody," he'd told the boy, and Tao agreed. 

When the door opened up to the adjoining room, Luhan expected to see another curious intruder like Jongin or Chanyeol. Instead though, it was Minseok. 

"Luhan." The mage shut the door and hastened across the room. Unbidden to him, Luhan felt relief. 

"You're back," he whispered, smiling.

"Yes."

"Where's Baekhyun?"

Minseok hesitated for a moment. Then he spoke. "Caught."

Luhan only blinked and Minseok climbed halfway up the bed. "Don't worry. We have a plan to get us out of here, starting soon. How are you feeling?" He put a hand on Luhan's forehead and frowned, concerned. "You're still burning up. Lord Yibo has your lyrium, but he's holding it hostage. That's actually good for us though. Kris drew the short straw is about to make a big fuss over why it hasn't been delivered yet."

"A diversion?" Luhan asked weakly. 

"Yes. Something like that. How do you feel?" he asked again.

"I had dreams. I think."

"That's not uncommon. You're probably having some hallucinations. What did you dream about?"

"Dragons." Luhan tried to smile, a half-hearted chuckle. "I dreamed about the dragon attack. Remember? When I was a boy in Nevarra I used to play champions and dragons with my brothers. I always wanted to be the champion, but I was the youngest, so I was always the dragon. They made me dress up in leftover curtains and never gave me a fair head start. I wanted to be the champion. I wanted to slay dragons."

"Poor Luhan, and then you joined the Templars and still didn't get a chance to slay a dragon."

Luhan smiled. "I never thought I'd see a real one... I thought they were just stories. Or that they lived so far away from people. Imagine my luck, I finally see one, a real one, and I end up stuck under a tree with a mage instead." 

Minseok laughed, softly. It warmed Luhan's heart, that noise, that expression. "And was it a total letdown? Me, instead of a dragon?"

"There were a few perks..." Luhan happily admitted. 

But then he frowned, and a shivering waved passed through his body, sweat beading on his forehead. Minseok would never know, but Luhan was fighting his conscience harder this minute than he ever had in the past. His body was suffering, craving that potion. He could have been better by now. He could have taken the lyrium out, uncorked the bottle, and poured it down his throat. It would have been an end to this misery. He didn't have to continue this struggle. 

But then Minseok would know. Minseok would know that someone had visited him, had given him lyrium. 

" _A goodwill offering,_ " Xiumin had said. 

He lost consciousness for a few minutes, still thinking dangerous thoughts. About dragons, about Xiumin, about him and a mage under a tree, and why of all the people in the world, Luhan had fallen for an apostate mage like Minseok. 

When he opened his eyes, Minseok was sitting by his side with Luhan's head cradled on his lap. He was speaking to Tao who perched daintily on the edge of the bed not making eye contact. 

"Is he going to be able to move?" Tao was asking. "W-When he leave here, we're not leaving Luhan behind, right?"

Luhan heard a warm rumble emanating from Minseok's tummy. "Of course not," Minseok murmured. "We're not going anywhere without him."

A warm palm played with Luhan's bangs, fingers straying as low as his cheek and in any other situation, Luhan would happy to roll over and bury himself in the blankets with that person by his side. He groaned instead, making his presence known. "Is it time to go?"

"Soon," Minseok assured him. "Very soon. In fact, let's get you up and into the other room. Jongin just said everything is going to plan, so we need to be ready to move."

"I can't... I can't walk though."

"That's alright. We've got you."

 

 

 

Minseok came back into the middle bedroom, Tao following him with the templar held between his arms. Kris had just returned from his meddling in the hallway, belching out for a servant to bring them food, and ' _where was that damned lyrium potion anyway?'_

And that's when they got the message, a hint of help. It was working, just like Minseok said it would. 

Jongin and Chanyeol had overturned everything in three rooms looking for tools that could be used as weapons, meager or not. Jongdae had a couple forks tucked away between his bootstraps. Yixing's bunny dissolved into mist, and all stood around on edge, waiting. 

Suho adjusted his wig one last time and nodded at his reflection furiously in the plate metal mirror. 

"Are we ready?" asked Minseok.

"Ready!" called out everyone in return. 

"Alright, Junhee," said Jongdae. "Your turn to shine."

Once upon a time, Suho's presence was shiny enough to command attention. He may have been the younger half-brother to Lord Namjoon, but that tenuous blood connection had been powerful enough. Until his fall. Until he tried to live up to the family name and failed so badly. He wasn't a warrior, that was evident enough, but as the unfavored son of a powerful clan, it was the only option remotely available. And he'd failed. Suho had no doubt people still talked about it in the Commons. It was all they had spoken of then, his disgrace. 

And that disgrace had led to him being ousted, his mother and sister degraded and cast back 'where they came from'. Dust Town. Minseok said it was their best way out, and how he knew that, Suho had no idea. But the very thought of having to visit there, seeing his family, seeing how they lived...

But they had to make it there first. And after that was accomplished,  _if_ they were still alive, maybe then he could find them. To see if it was even possible to take them away.

He opened the door first and poked his head around the corridor. It was empty. 

"Ready," he said, and lumbered out. 

He walked gracefully, as ladylike as it was possible to be for a short dwarf in an ill-fitting dress and a wig which made his head itch. Behind him, the others would be assembling, but Suho needed to be the first.

His brain worked fast, retracing the corridors through which they'd come. It wasn't unlike the household he grew up in, but even if the layout had been tremendously different, he would still know which path to take. Stone sense, they called it. The dwarves were just born with it. To any other humanoid, the earth and the stone were devoid of sound or calling. But to a dwarf, that sense of navigation, from the distant chiming of unmined lyrium in the vein, was what kept them alive. How he'd missed it, being on the surface now for so long.

He turned a corner daintily, pretending to wonder at the carvings on the wall when he came upon the first house soldier. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" he cried in surprise. 

The stocky sentinel seemed to draw up taller when he caught sight of him. "You uhhm... shouldn't be here."

_Junhee_  smiled coquettishly. "I was looking for my friend. I must have gotten lost."

The dwarf frowned and shifted uneasily, slinging his one-handed axe from one arm to the other as he looked around. "What's your friend's name?"

"Baekhyun? The elf? I think he must have gotten lost looking for food."

The sentinel whistled for another, and a second dwarf rounded another bend in answer to his call. Suho kept on speaking. "You know those elves just can't find their way around unless there's a tree to pick out-" 

But then the second soldier was wonked on the head by a candlestick, Jongin standing behind him looking vaguely murderous. The first dwarf gasped in surprise and sprang into action. He too was sprawled out a moment later, rushed by Jongdae and and Chanyeol before he ever got out the call to alarm. Suho stepped back as the body fell and felt a hint of sympathy. Then it passed by entirely. 

"Which way," Jongin whispered. Minseok appeared by his shoulder and pointed. Suho caught his eye and agreed.

"Then let's get going!" Jongdae spoke gleefully. He took Suho by the elbow and the party tip-toed hurriedly through the stone passageways with Jongin and Minseok in the lead. Chanyeol and Tao came just behind Suho, followed by Kris who was carrying the sick templar, and Yixing swept silently behind them, covering their rear. 

They met only one other soldier standing guard by a set of heavily barred doors, and this one too went down like a feather. 

"There should be two standing here," said Suho worriedly. 

"Is it locked?" Minseok asked.

Jongin tried the door, and to their surprise it opened. The stone scraped against the flooring. Suho winced, sure that the sound would bring about the second guard. However, when it fell open they were surprised to see the second guard already laid out on the ground. 

"What!"

Baekhyun sat on top of him, his thighs twisted around the man's thick sputtering neck. 

"Baekhyun!" Jongin uttered harshly, still keeping his voice low, but it was impossible not to be shocked at the scene.

"Well! Took you guys long enough."

The elf's arms were still tied behind his back with ropes and knots, but the dwarves had unwisely not done the same with his feet. 

"How did you..." Chanyeol looked down, obviously impressed.

Baekhyun let up a beaming smile. "I was flirting with this one, and well... I think I won. Too bad the door was locked from the inside."

"F-Flirting?" Jongin stuttered.

"More like fighting," Baekhyun clarified. "Just that this guy didn't know the difference." He giggled. 

He rolled off the struggling soldier just in time for Chanyeol to drag him back and tie up his arms instead, giving the dwarf one good thump on the head. Jongin unhooked the knots holding Baekhyun's arms together. 

"Now to find our confiscated weapons," said Yixing, who had pushed on forward to peek around the next corner. 

"The armory will be close," said Suho. 

But they wouldn't be able to get in without further aid. And nor would they be able to leave unless Minseok's plan actually worked. Everything was riding on someone within the household helping them out.

That someone happened to be Seungyeon. They spotted the servant girl standing nervously before another set of heavy doors, the armory. Suho approached her first, and fast. "Seungyeon... you're..."

She smiled apologetically. "Forgive me. I didn't know you earlier. Lord J-Junmyeon." 

He hushed her softly. "I don't go by that name now, but thank you." There was no reason for a servant of his friend's household to think Junmyeon would ever return to these parts. For all they knew, he was gone top, to the surface, which meant he might as well be dead. And he hadn't even known the girl very well. She was a loyal retainer to House Zygmunt. She had been loyal to Lord Yixuan. And all she had to offer now, as Kris had deduced on his outing earlier, was a brief moment of aid on behalf of her banished former master.

Minseok rushed forward now. "You have the keys?" 

"Yes."

Behind the locked door were their supplies and weapons. They quickly pulled them on, swords and bows, staffs and packs. 

"Lord Yibo is in his rooms," Seungyeon added nervously while they worked. "If you go now, he won't realize for at least ten minutes that-"

"We left a few guards knocked out in the hall," Suho interrupted.

She frowned. 

"Will this get you in trouble?" Minseok asked.

Seungyeon wavered for a moment, but then she shook her head. "I can handle it. Don't worry about me." 

Suho wanted to ask if she wanted to go with them, if she needed rescuing as well. 

"Which way to the front door?" Jongin asked instead. 

"This way, hurry and someone will meet you outside."

"Someone?" Baekhyun quipped. "Who?

"Someone who will help you reach Dust Town," she answered. 

They scampered quickly behind her steps, Yixing still checking their rear but they moved so softly and no one came out to accost them. Seungyeon pulled another key from the set of rings she carried and inserted it before a large engraved door. The mechanism worked slowly, but the door pulled away and they got a glimpse of the twinkling darkness of the Diamond Quarter once again. 

"Thank you," Suho told her before he could step out. 

"If you see.... oh, never mind." Seungyeon closed her mouth and then nodded, but she had nothing more to say. She stood watch as they filed out one by one and closed the door behind them with a resounding clamor. 

Step one to freedom, Suho thought.

And then they were met by another party of soldiers.

"Sungjoo of House Kondrat!" spat the leader of this new group. Everyone froze. 

Baekhyun reached back for his bow, Jongin, Jongdae and Chanyeol for their weapons. Tao put up his fists and Yixing spread his palm to grab for his staff. Only Minseok and Suho had no reaction, except to hold up their arms to steady the rest. 

Sungjoo was short, and muscular, and he wore the colors of Suho's old household. By law he should be here to arrest Suho, or Junmyeon, on the spot for disobeying his banishment orders. Instead, he held a steady gaze and stared through the wig and the dress, and his lips turned from stoic expression to a smile of delight. 

"Lord Junmyeon. It's been a long time," he greeted them swiftly. "Please, allow me to escort you away. Dust Town, isn't it? I've had word of a friend of yours down there. He sent a messenger, a go-between, but his name, I believe, is Kyungsoo. Is this correct?" 

 

 

 

 

The longer they spent underground, the more Sehun hated it. From the shop in the Commons to a similar hold in the much-famed slum, Dust Town, there just wasn't anything fun about it. As if his world had gone dark, there was no sun, there was no green. Nothing even grew, except strangely fluorescent mushrooms  in pots which Kyungsoo warned him not to touch without the proper gloves. Sehun sat stoically in the corner of the room and for the fifth or fifth hundredth time traced the cracks in the stone up the walls and over the ceiling. There was no way this place was structurally sound, everything reeked of filth, and true to its name, a thin sheen of dust covered every single thing. Sometimes thickly too. He'd swept his seat, a stone bench, before sitting down, and now half the dust that had been resting on it was stuck instead to Sehun's sweat-slick skin. He could never win.

Kyungsoo came and went several times. He said he paid the donkey peddler a lot of gold to get them down here, but Sehun no longer believed it. 

Kyungsoo was way too comfortable underground. He moved and acted more like the dwarves than anything Sehun had seen before. Stone sense, he'd read in a book once. That was how dwarves were able to live like this and not go mad. And if he could make a bet or if indeed he had anything to bet with, he'd bet that Kyungsoo had this stone sense as well. And Kyungsoo was very much  _not a dwarf_.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked once or twice.

"Doing what?" 

"Helping us," said Sehun.

So far, Kyungsoo hadn't given him a decent answer. Yet he interacted with all the dwarves they met like a man with a purpose. Part of that he shared with Sehun. "If all goes well, they'll be here soon. Sungjoo just sent a message that the plan is underway."

"Who is Sungjoo, and why would he help them?" 

Kyungsoo had chuckled and chided Sehun for his whining. "You really didn't know a thing about that dwarf you've been traveling with this whole time, did you?"

"Who, Suho?"

And Kyungsoo had nodded. "You should take a sleep. When they get here, we'll have a long day of traveling ahead."

Sehun had obeyed, but only after an elderly dwarf woman brought them something to eat. Then Sehun coaxed Alistair into staying still and being his pillow. It was warm, and the animal was about as covered in dust as Sehun, but there was comfort there. Something familiar. Sehun had been the first to open up and trust the strange man who called himself Kyungsoo, but Kyungsoo was still a mystery, and growing more mysterious by the hour. 

"You could have just left us," Sehun mused tiredly, his eyes already slipping, sleep on the horizon. 

Kyungsoo crouched by his side and he wasn't wearing his gloves now as he hummed. Again, he wouldn't answer directly. 

"Maybe I have other motives than that?" 

"Like what?" Sehun yawned.

He closed his eyes, and Alistair shifted restlessly from underneath his head. Then he felt something trailing delicately against his out-fallen arm. Something light, a finger press. Kyungsoo was tracing a heart-shaped pattern on Sehun's wrist. He smiled wickedly, the corners of his lips up-stretched and for a moment Sehun felt himself quit breathing. His eyes fluttered sleepily from Kyungsoo's hazy grayish face to the smoky dark imprint left on his arm. Then he shuddered and pulled it back, cradling it closer to his body. 

Kyungsoo laughed, softly. 

 

 

 

There was a girl there when Sehun opened his eyes. Alistair had rolled over onto his belly, and one paw stuck awkwardly to Sehun's forehead. He yawned and sat up, looking around. Kyungsoo wasn't there, but that wasn't what had gotten his attention. The girl was a dwarf, short like all of them were, but her shoulders weren't so broad and her face was lovely. Sehun thought for a moment that he was dreaming. He sat up.

"Who... are you?" he asked. There was something about her that looked familiar, although he knew that couldn't be the case. He'd definitely never met her before.

However, her smile, it appealed to him.

"I'm Yoona. Your friend told me to stay here in case you woke up. Your name is Sehun?"

Sehun nodded. He felt like a mess, his clothes were disgusting and his hair was matted to his forehead, caked there probably with the combination of moisture and dirt. And here he was stuck in a room with a pretty dwarf girl, a commoner obviously by her garb and the way her face was smudged with dirt. In some ways, he felt more threatened than if he'd woken up in captivity or at swordpoint.

He cleared his throat and stood up. She did too, and it was then he realized that she barely reached up to his waist, even more disconcerting. He had no idea what to do or say but it seemed that she was waiting for him to speak. 

"So... where is... Kyungsoo?"

"Your friend? He's gone to inspect the tunnel."

"Tunnel?"

"Yes, to the Deep Roads."

"Oh, right. The Deep Roads."

Kyungsoo had mentioned such, but in all honesty, Sehun didn't really think that was going to happen. No one went willingly into the Deep Roads. There were darkspawn down there, cave-ins, monsters. Unchecked lava flows, dwarves driven mad by the taint. Perhaps he was making this up as he went but, surely it was possible. 

"Are you alright?" Yoona took a step forward, her face racked with what Sehun believed might be genuine concern. He wasn't expecting it.

"Yes. I think so. It's just... this is all very strange."

"You're a noble," she said, just like that. 

Even stranger, that she could tell. "How do you know?"

"By the way you carry yourself." She smiled sweetly, and there was something about her posture as well that Sehun should have recognized. "I used to be like you. I was born greater than this," she swept a hand around the room, "but now this is my existence."

Sehun felt taken aback. "I'm... I'm sorry." 

"Oh, it's alright. I'm used to it now, and it's not as bad as it might be. I could have been sent to the surface, like my brother, and then I would have been lost. Stranded. This is not such a bad life as that."

"Your... brother was sent to the surface?"

"Yes. You know him, actually."

"I-I do?"

She laughed, and it was such a beautiful sound, it was almost unimaginable that it could belong to a girl who had fallen so low. "Yes, you do. Kyungsoo tells me he goes by the name of Suho now, but before he was called Junmyeon. Junmyeon is my older brother. I never thought I would see him again, ever... but now I will get that chance. Thanks to all of you." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will you just look at this picture of Yoona and Junmyeon, aren't they just super cute together! They'd make the best siblings. Just make them about half this tall hehe


	32. Prelude to an Expedition

"I want to see him. Where is he?"

Baekhyun's lips twitched watching Jongin shove his way past the small ring of dwarves blocking the entrance to the room. Inside they were told Sehun was waiting.

They'd made a long circuitous route out of the Diamond Quarter, through the Commons and down in Dust Town, traveling in small bunches and resting in different places to attract less attention. Jongin, Baekhyun and Tao were in the first group. He didn't know how the others were arriving, but it was certainly good to stretch his legs after being tucked into a merchant's cart the whole way down. 

"Kyungsoo..." Baekhyun murmured, noting the small man they'd missed for a over a day and a half. In the present company, both Kyungsoo and Baekhyun loomed like giants among the dwarves. "So Minseok was right... you didn't run off after all. You do realize Sehun is worth quite half his weight in gold, don't you?"

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and smirked. "Believe me, I know what he's worth. The gold doesn't excite me. Too burdensome to carry around and with my condition well... you wouldn't envision me happily settling down somewhere in a nice little village, would you?"

"Handsome lad like you, you'd scare all the men away." 

Tao eyed Kyungsoo wearily when he lead the way for the two to enter. Sehun was scowling, his body currently undergoing an inspection with Jongin determined to know that he was absolutely fine, not hurt in any way. The boy whined and held his arms tightly across his chest, fighting Jongin's prying touch. "I'm fine. You can... Baekhyun, save me!"

Baekhyun laughed. "Enough, Jongin. Alistair looks positively ready to lick you to death in defense of the kid. He's alive, that's all that matters."

"Is it just you?" Sehun looked around for more.

"They're coming," said Jongin hopefully.

"I... I don't remember much of what happened, but Kyungsoo said you were arrested?"

"We were prize, captive guests of the most hospitable little lordling ever," Baekhyun clarified. He suddenly gazed at a woman standing in the shadow of Sehun's elbow and preened with sudden interest. 

"Uhhh, this is..." said Sehun. "She's..."

The woman stepped forward uncertainly, but Sehun let her say the rest. 

"I'm Yoona... I'm... but where is my brother? Is he alright?" 

"Suho's your brother?" Jongin asked softly.

"Yes."

"I see the resemblance now, I'm sorry he's not with us, but he should..." Jongin looked behind him towards the dwarves who had escorted them down. They belonged to Sungjoo's men, part of House Kondrat, and Baekhyun suddenly realized that Yoona would know these men. She would have lived a privileged life among their household, as did Suho, or Junmyeon, had before. 

It was clear the the two disguised soldiers had no idea how to react in front of her. They were young, capable, but not so well spoken or trained for situations like this. Yoona approached them gracefully. The youngest fidgeted and was about to bow. "No, please. You don't have to. I'm not a lady anymore." 

The young man stood up firmly and looked at his fellow. 

"I remember your name," Yoona continued. "It's Jungkook, isn't it. And then you're... Jin? Did you see my brother? Is he coming soon? Is he in good health?"

The two soldiers fidgeted even more, and one of them repeated cautiously, "H-He.... he..."

"He's a she, right now." Baekhyun put the dwarves quickly out of their misery. 

"She!?" 

"Yep, that's right. We... had some issues with the-"

"Baekhyun, not now." It was Kyungsoo who gently warned him to stop, and totally unfair was that. Baekhyun was ready to go into swift detail about Suho's apparent gender change and how beautiful he looked in his wig. It occurred to him though that parts of Dust Town were said to be under the authority of the Carta, its casteless members at the general mercy of the illegal organization most people in Orzammar turned a blind eye to. 

"Kyungsoo," Jongin was already leading the conversation elsewhere. "Tell me what's been going on."

 

 

 

Within a few hours, they were all reassembled. The first group was obviously restless, Jongin more than eager to make their final escape and not at all happy to have to trust the plan Kyungsoo had created. He seemed vaguely reassured about it now, however, Luhan decided. They had spent the entire day pouring over hastily drawn maps and arguing. 

"You don't know this tunnel isn't blocked!"

"And I am reasonably sure it isn't, and if we get there and find it is, we can navigate around it-"

"How? How exactly do we do that! The dwarves themselves don't even venture so deep and now you want to-"

It was inconceivable that they were going to make their escape via the Deep Roads. Luhan sat up shakily upon a stone bench and listened to their plans with one ear only. With the other ear he kept track of the whisperings of Minseok and Yixing in corner, their heads bowed close, voices low. It should have scared him more. Two mages conniving secretly. Luhan was a templar, and even if he was still recovering, his strength upon being given a dosage of lyrium was on the mend. He was trained, and competent, and before he met Minseok, he had that desire to control. But not now. It was a curious thought, Luhan almost not caring whatever mischief two apostate mages might be up to. Because his trusted them? Perhaps. Because he trusted them to help lead the group out of Orzammar and through the Deep Roads? Yes, definitely. For all the swords and shields they had, the presence of two mages was extremely beneficial. Especially when Luhan knew for certain that another mage... a possibly more dangerous mage... was on their tail. 

"You're sure of Kyungsoo?" Yixing was asking.

Minseok nodded affirmatively. "Yes. In this, I am."

In this, he was. But what would happen later? What happened when they were above ground, assuming they made it that far? What would happen to Jongin and Sehun, and Chanyeol and Baekhyun. Before they got involved with the others they had had their own agenda. Now it was hampered by the men chasing Sehun, and the Carta, thanks to Suho. And now especially, by Xiumin. 

No wonder Jongin was always on edge, and Chanyeol always grumpy. Or why Baekhyun, when he wasn't being professionally cheery, mistrusted everything. Their lives had been a whole lot simpler back before Minseok and Luhan joined their party. So many plots, so many threads weaving them together, like a dance of fate sculpted by a higher entity. Was it coincidence, or destiny? Was it even worth asking the question? What would happen when it was all over? Would Minseok disappear or Luhan resign and follow him. Could he even live that way, and would he be allowed. 

He shook his head and glanced towards the third corner where Suho stood hugging his sister, tears in both their eyes. This short reunion was cruel, would be crueler later when they were parted again. He knew Suho wanted her to come with them, to have Yoona throw her fate in with the party's lot. Looking around, Luhan couldn't believe someone would even hesitate to leave this place. Dust Town was as far from the sparkling Diamond Quarter above as it was possible to be. It was hot, filthy, common, and she dressed in rags compared to even the dresses of the middle folk above. And yet, she wouldn't leave. The Surface, to Yoona, was as scary to her as a life outside the Templars had once been to Luhan. Not that the metaphor existed now. Now, he might compare it to being thrust away from Minseok's side. It hurt, thinking of that... 

And so, they would leave just as they had come, together, twelve strange fellows stealing down into the earth, praying to every entity known to the living that there was a fork of the Deep Roads that would lead them out.

"The dwarves won't go with us any farther than here," said Baekhyun to Jongdae, as they examined one of the maps. Chanyeol hovered around him, and Minseok and Yixing came to join in. "Beyond that, they know of nothing besides cave-ins and lost thaigs and possible Darkspawn hives, joy to Andraste! Doesn't that sound fun!"

"Darkspawn?" asked Tao with wobbling voice.

"If we're lucky we can avoid them," Baekhyun maintained, but he didn't sound confident.

"How?" asked Jongdae. "We simply call ahead past every turn, ask if there are Darkspawn ahead, and if they reply, we don't go that way?"

Kyungsoo snorted. He wasn't even looking at the map now, but he'd strolled away from Jongin and stood apart with his arms crossed over his chest. "Well, yes, we could of course do that. An extremely smooth tactic of engaging your enemies."

They laughed of course, everyone except Jongin, who stepped forward with a frown on his face. 

"Kyungsoo has suggested that he, actually, is somewhat able to detect when Darkspawn may be near." 

Chanyeol gasped. "What? Like a Grey Warden? You can sense their blood taint?"

"Something like that." 

Baekhyun made a soft _ah-ha_ sound and looked mildly puzzled. Without looking back, he struck an arm behind his body and managed to find Sehun. He pulled the boy close and whispered loudly into his ear, not minding that everyone could hear. Indeed, he wanted them to. " _Darkspawn-ish_ , isn't that the word you would use? Come on Sehun, you know him the best." Baekhyun winked. Sehun barely flinched but didn't reply.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. "I can sense them, that's all you need to know. Unless you'd like to try your chances marching back through the gates of Orzammar. Keep in mind,  _I_  have nothing against any of you. In fact, I am reasonably assured that I have gone beyond my capacity to help you, for no untoward reason. So you can also say that I have brought on my own, not a single ounce of trouble on any of you... unlike a certain dwarf, or Sehun's cousins, or someone's dear brother here..." He eyed Minseok warily, but with a smirk on his face. 

That didn't rule out a further, secret motive, Luhan mused. But Kyungsoo was right. Because of their association with Suho, Minseok and the nature of Sehun's supposedly secret travel plans, they were in more danger against those three forces combined than from Kyungsoo himself.

"I daresay we can re-judge how to proceed on our own again.... later," said Jongin, looking partially defeated. "Let's fight our way out of Orzammar and the Deep Roots first, do we agree?"

And on this, they did.

Once they got out - if they got out, Luhan reminded himself - they would likely separate. Together they were the link connecting too many strands of chaos. Hard decisions, they would decide those later. 

"How are you for travel?" Minseok suddenly asked Luhan. He prodded his arm and spoke softly, as if still worried about Luhan's condition.

"Good to go." He smiled. He was armed now, weapons and armor and several bottles of potion wrapped snugly in a pouch on his back. Enough lyrium to last him a long time, and then one more besides, still hidden among his robes and armor... 

"Good." For a second, with Minseok blocking the view, he stepped in front of Luhan and traced his fingers along either side of Luhan's face. The pads of his fingers caught in the fine stubble of his jaw. Luhan could happily close his eyes and pretend they weren't about to leave. Wouldn't it have been nice if they could stay here a few more days, rest properly, spend some time pretending the world wasn't literally falling apart. 

Instead, he leaned against the mage's touch and forced his eyes upwards, searching deep within the other's gaze. He saw nothing but warm interest, and love, the same two eyes he'd fallen in love with so many weeks ago. Minseok smiled, and Luhan began to relax. 

But then he saw it. A flash, a sparkle, an image that was both inside Minseok's mind and clouding Luhan's own. A stream, a temple, fountains; and in Luhan's head he heard it like echoes upon echoes of bubbling waters surrounded by the haze of thick fog and green, almost too green, emerald green fronds and leaves. 

He blinked back, and the image broke. Minseok didn't appear any different, and merely continued smiling until he stood up and took his hands away. Luhan looked around, wondering if anyone else had suddenly blacked out like he just had... But nothing seemed wrong. Kris was sharpening his weapons, Yixing was instructing Tao how to carry their supplies, Baekhyun was laughing, and Suho was still hugging his sister who was now crying even louder. Chanyeol bobbled up and down impatiently on his heels, Jongin spoke softly with the last few dwarves from House Kondrat who would escort them part of the way. Alistair chewed on a nug bone while drooling all over Sehun's shoe. 

But Luhan felt sick, just for a moment. Perhaps he was not as well as he insisted. He waited another minute and let it all pass, and when he didn't feel like vomiting, he caught Kyungsoo's eyes. 

They looked normal, glassy, dark and hollow, but they produced nearly the same reaction, only instead of seeing things, this time Luhan  _heard_  something else...

 _Come to my child... I will embrace you_...

From the pit of his stomach, anothe wave of unease spilled forth. His head riveted like he'd been shocked, eyes twitching, body falling forward. Luhan doubled over and vomited everything up. Every bit of food he'd swallowed over the last hour, until his throat ached and burned like acid and his body was on fire. 

"Luhan? Luhan! Are you alright?" Somebody was asking. He continued to wretch.

"Side effects of the lyrium, still, probably." Minseok's voice, worried and confused.

_Come to my child... This is the well of all souls..._

"Give him a bit, I think it will pass," said Yixing. There were several figures perched down beside him now, each with a comforting arm around his waist and somebody held a cloth to his mouth and a cup to water. He spit out the last remaining bile and pushed down another wave of nausea, sure that the sensation was mostly past. 

_For here lies the abyss.... from these emerald waters doth life begin anew..._

Kris heaved him back onto his legs and sat him down. Someone else fanned his face. Every emotion from concern to mild annoyance looked back at him from the assembled, ready to move party.

"I'm... good. Sorry, I'm good. We can... go soon..." Luhan dry-heaved. It would _not_ be his fault if they couldn't leave on time. And he would not let himself get left behind, strange sensations or not. 

"Luhan, are you sure?" asked Minseok, his eyebrows furrowed. 

"Yes... Yes, I'm fine. I promise. Just a... minor spell, I think I'm okay now..."

He did not look at Kyungsoo again. He stared at Jongdae instead, and for a second he thought it curious how intently Jongdae was staring - not at Suho, like he often did - but at Sehun. 

What was that thing they had talked about before? Luhan tried to remember, but with his head all fuzzy it was coming to him in pieces. Jongdae the assassin, and a master spy who together had helped Luhan take charge of his fate on the return promise of... a favor. Luhan shivered, and wondered not for the first time, what exactly Jongdae wanted and when he would ask for it. 

But, too much, it was all too much to think about. 

"I'm ready, I'm fine, I promise," he told Minseok, not sure what he was promising, or if he could even keep it.

_Come to me my child... In my arms lies eternity..._

 

 

 

 

 

"Yoona, you are sure? You're positive you don't want to come with us?" Suho begged for the tenth time.

His sister, however, only wiped her eyes and shook her head. "No, brother. This is your journey now, and it goes on. Mine has found its resting place. I would not want to see the sky... It... it frightens me to even think about something so vast. But you, you are so brave. You will do our mother proud, I know."

Suho blushed, even though he was sad. "We are casteless, and our mother has died. There is no pride in that. The ancestors would-"

"The ancestors will not judge. And nor would our father if he could see you now. I don't know these people very well, but they seem honest, and you are happy. Your place is with them, I can tell. However that works out, you will be well." 

He knew she was looking over his shoulder towards the assassin who had greeted her earlier with much cheerful familiarity. Was that a false hope Suho had? That his place could actually be beside a character such as him? All mystery and charm, and a streak of something darker, more violent? How did one go about judging these things anyways? Was there a path for every creature born on and under Thedas that could be so easily divined? No Paragon of Orzammar surely could attest to such a thing. Maybe he would ask Jongdae about his gods, if Jongdae had any he prayed to at night. Was there even a patron deity to assassins and the dwarves who followed them? Suho did not even have dreams at night. How could he imagine dreaming then about a life beyond himself, even in his conscious state?

"This is goodbye, then."

"Yes," said Yoona, a fresh wave of tears spilling from her eyes. "Goodbye, brother."

Suho shouldered his share of the supplies and stood tall. As tall as it was possible for a dwarf of his size. He was dressed as a man again, finally. He would stomach his pride and not cry again for his sister or for the life they had lost. Jongdae left Sehun's side and approached them as well. 

"A pleasure, once again, to meet you, my lady." He bowed artfully before Yoona, including a flourishing twirl of his wrist, and Yoona hiccuped a laugh. 

"Thank you for watching over my brother," she said. 

Jongdae just winked, wrapped an arm around his Suho's shoulder, and turned them around. 

A small entourage of dwarves stood ready to lead them away through a secret passageway that opened into the Deep Roads, the friends Kyungsoo had made since entering Orzammar. Jackson stood chief among them, and he smiled solidly at Suho when he approached, as if they were comrades in arms instead of mere strangers. He and the others would go before them into the tunnels. Additionally, six of Sungjoo's men would follow in their rear in case of ambush. Eventually, they would all turn back and let the twelve go on alone. But until then...

"It's a true expedition!" cried Baekhyun with sudden excitement. "Wow, I've been everywhere on this great continent before, but never into the Deep Roads! Men, elves, dwarves and magic whatevers, are you ready!?!"

It didn't seem to irk Baekhyun that he got only grunts in reply. But then, they were off. 

 

 

 

 

_I think he sensed something._

Minseok did not look over at Kyungsoo, did not in fact react at all because that might have been noticeable.

_Who? You're probably mistaken though._

_I'm not. He looked at you, then he looked at me. Then he vomited._

_A coincidence,_ Minseok insisted. _He couldn't possibly sense anything. Not even Sehun does and he has the other-_

_You're a fool if you think Luhan is a fool as well. He has enough magic pumped into his veins. And you and he are... close. He knows something, I'm sure of it._

_Then we will pretend he doesn't, and if he ever asks... deny it._

_You will keep this secret from him too then? Even with all that is at stake?_

_Yes. To protect him._

_From who. You? Your brother? Me?_

_Yes. From all of us. If that is all I can do for him in this life then, so be it._

_You do him a disservice then._

_Maybe..._

_But he loves you._

_I know._

_And you love him._

_Yes._

_And?_

_And what? You should not be focused on me right me._

_Then what should I be focused on. The darkspawn? My tainted brethren?_

_Yes. Steer us out of Deep Roads, then we will continue this discussion. Later._

_Later, later, all anyone of you ever thinks about is later..._

_Hush, Kyungsoo. I do not want to hear your voice probing my mind again until we are out of here. I was grateful before that we could only keep this up short-range._

_Didn't you miss me in your head though?_

_No._

_Fine then. And anyways, the ore in these veins is harsh. It makes my head hurt, dampens some of my senses, and this connection._

_Then focus._

_I will.... Minseok, I will. No need to get squabbly with me._

_And don't tempt or say anything to Luhan._

_I won't! But... what if...._

_If I have to tell him something, then I'll be the one to do it. Understand?_

_Can I take it that's a threat then?_

_You can. Absolutely. Now shut up. Please._


	33. Deep Musings

"There! To your left!"

Jongdae ducked, cackling from excitement, just as a shot of frost soared over his head. He landed on his knees, spun around, and with his right hand - the ever trusty Zevran blade - he sliced through two back legs of the spider now threatening their existence. Two more reeled down from the shadows above, their web strings glinting in the meek torchlight, and several already lay dead. His was now the largest, perhaps the queen of this entire den. Poison dripped from her pincers, a fowl smell clogged his brain, and the other six legs were more than enough to keep her steady. All that and Jongdae felt only the rush of battle. Adrenaline raged through his veins, awakening him like wine awakened the senses of mere ordinary human beings. 

"This one's mine!" he shouted, fiery smirk in place as the giant arachnid twice his height turned upon him. "Challenge accepted!" he called to the beast.

Beside him, Kris snorted. "Trying to steal all the thunder, aren't you?" The qunari grunted at the same time he swung his greatsword. The massive blade pierced the body, guts and blood spilling forth, but that one didn't stun it either. Perhaps they were unequally matched after all. But who was keeping tally? Certainly not Jongdae. While he and Kris kept the beast from encroaching closer, several arrows flew across their shoulders, one narrowly missing Jongdae's head, but it landed right on target in spite of that, right in the eye of the spider. 

"Get those pincers!" Kris yelled, making another sweep. He loosed another leg from the body, showering Jongdae in foot long hair that clung to his body and made him itch.

"Thanks," he said unglamorously, hacking upwards before he dived left to avoid another squealing attack.

Jongin suddenly appeared by their side, shield in place as the mouth of the creature snagged towards them. They collided heavily, Jongin pushed backwards onto the ground, but a second later he was back on his feet. All three of them regrouped when the spider retreated, and before it could attack again, they rushed it. A freezing spell landed over their heads, then another, then a stream of energy that smacked it right between the eyes, momentarily befuddling the spider. It was the moment they had waited for. 

"Now!" Jongdae shouted. 

Behind them were the dying throes of one of the remaining spiders. Chanyeol shouted in triumph; Sehun screamed.

"Two left!" yelled Suho, who had crawled up on a safer ledge and was monitoring the whole battle.

"We know, thanks!" cried Baekhyun. Several more arrows flew past Jongdae's line of vision, further hampering the spider's deathly blows. Beside the second smaller monster, Luhan and Yixing battled alongside Tao who had shown an aggressive streak of fighting capabilities. Both he and Alistair were blurs amid the legs which were as as tall as some humans, the bodies the size of small shacks. Only Kyungsoo was missing. 

"Damn that ungrateful darkspawn!" joked Baekhyun more than once. Kyungsoo had of course slipped past the spiders before they descended, scouting around farther tunnels to scope out what might be ahead. And, he completely missed the danger behind.

"More loot for us?" Jongdae suggested. Meanwhile Luhan plunged his sword into the body of the second last remaining spider, and all their attention was then on the queen. 

"Loot?" Jongin scolded, mid-swing. "What loot can you possibly find on this thing!?"

Everybody ducked a second later when the queen spit a sickly green, putrid smelling liquid from her mouth.

"You know all those empty phials I keep on my person at all time?"

"No?" screeched Jongin. 

The collective forces of the mages, swords, arrows and blades finally tipped the queen onto her side. Legs jittered, pincers quivered, and the entire body gave one last shudder before it came to a halt, completely dead. A puddle of green ooze seeped from under the body, and Jongdae grinned. He wiped his daggers, slipped them into their sheaves, and then drew out one of the bottles, walking cautiously towards the poison. "Well, that's what they're for. See, I'm a collector at heart!" 

"He's a madman," Chanyeol bemoaned. Nobody else, however, cared to stop him. Not even Suho, and the dwarf had had plenty to say before about Jongdae's apparent lack of self-preservation in the face of dangerous essences to bottle. 

"Where's Sehun?" asked Jongin. The boy stepped out from around one of the other dead spiders and shook his body, as if that might shake off the noxious odors and bodily desecration. 

Only then did Kyungsoo reappear. "No darkspawn ahead, but hey, I heard fighting?" 

Eleven pairs of eyes just glared at him. 

They'd been walking for perhaps three or four days. Their scouts had long since left them behind, both the soldiers of House Kondrat and Jackson's company. They'd been mildly helpful, but only with navigation. The only fighting before today's poisonous spiders including warding off a few spiderlings, a pack of enraged rats, and one lost nug still with its owner's brand which they swept up and carved for supper. Bestiary in the Deep Roads was minimal thanks to the presence of the darkspawn. Their taint was evident anywhere they dwelled or passed through, affecting not only the fertility of any species that came into contact with it, but also serving as a presence to scare lesser beasts away.

Perhaps, thought Jongdae, they might have kept that advice for themselves as well. But then, what's an adventure without possibly coming out alive but sterile. No biggie, really, not when compared with the treasures he would carry out. This poison especially... when distilled into the right consistency with the right herbs, then laced alongside a blade and stabbed into an unsuspecting body: lethal. So lethal. Jongdae could make a true fortune from this stuff. Not like Chanyeol with his amateurish collection of Deep Roads fungi and mushrooms. 

"Shall we take a rest?" asked the warrior now. 

"No." Yixing shook his head. "We should put some distance between ourselves and these poisonous fumes, in case there are any lingering affects. Kyungsoo? You'll lead the way?"

The shorter man nodded and lead them away.

They slept in the shade of a cave-in. Belowground, Jongdae lost track of true time. To Suho and Kyungsoo, they seemed to keep their bearings better, but by now Jongdae was just along for the ride. However long it took them to find their way out became immaterial. Travel together, keep a watch over Sehun, enjoy his time cozying up to the dwarf. Life wasn't all bad as long as they stayed alive. 

This 'night' while they rested, he stayed up to keep watch. Suho accompanied him, and for a long time they remained quiet, observant. Suho chewed on a strip of meat, Jongdae twirled and twirled his blades. Frequently, he caught the dwarf staring at his hands, wonder with just a hint of fear in his eyes, perhaps even curiosity.

"Don't want to try it?" Jongdae teased.

Immediately Suho looked away. "Of course not," he said gruffly. He tugged his collar, already stained through with the sweat of the Deep Roads. Like everyone here. They had passed several channels of magma before, the dwarven highways staying well above the surface, but even once they were past, the glow of it pervaded the air, as did the heat. Without it they'd likely freeze, but instead they sweated it out and carried on. Only Yixing did not seem quite as affected it; no doubt he carried a spell that eased his comfort, but if such was true, he did not share his knowledge. The elf mage slept silently against a large stone, staff laying lengthwise beside his robes, head bobbing and his long arms crossed against his chest. Suho followed Jongdae's gaze and also, curiously, shuddered and looked away.

"Something wrong?" asked Jongdae.

Suho didn't answer. 

"You act like you're scared of him," Jongdae pried.

After a few moments, Suho finally answered. "I'm scared of everybody. Wouldn't you be, if you were me?" Definitely a throw-away response that avoided the point. 

"Yes, but Yixing...?"

"What about him." He spoke softer, so lightly that Jongdae had to lean closer to hear him. 

"I thought dwarves were less susceptible to magical influence. You should be less scared of him than anyone here-"

"Yes, but I'm not any less susceptible to...." Suho stopped shorted, threw a hand over his mouth and hiccuped, as if passing through a mental check of something he did not want to remember. "Never mind."

Jongdae's smile unwinded slowly. "So there  _is_ something..." However, he didn't push it. If there was any secret to learn, he would find out with time. He changed the subject instead. "So after we get out of the Deep Roads..."

Suho took another moment to grunt. "What about it." 

"You will keep traveling? With us?"

"Who's us?" the dwarf counter-asked. 

"Ahh, but that actually is a good question." One for which Jongdae had no answer. "Shall we play it by ear then? You and I?" 

"Say what you want," Suho murmured sullenly.

He fell silent once more but did not throw off Jongdae's shoulder when he leaned against him a few minutes later. They stayed that way until Jongin woke up and urged them to sleep, then they drifted off into dreamland. Ahh, but then dwarves did not dream. What a lonely existence. The thought amused Jongdae as he rested his eyes and let sleep do the rest. Perhaps that accounted for Suho's small hand finding Jongdae's arm before he too fell into a doze. With nothing to dream about, maybe Jongdae was his anchor while he drifted into that lonely, visionless realm?

 

 

 

"Where are you going?" Jongin asked, his voice low but strong. Kyungsoo, far from continuing to rest, was already moving around like he intended to go somewhere. 

"I want to get a head start, see what's around the next bend."

"By yourself?" Jongin challenged. 

Kyungsoo smiled and let his hood drop behind his neck. He took great pleasure in the looks of mistrust people gave him. In this company at least, he wasn't bothered by their revulsion. Instead, it gave him courage, a sick kind of satisfaction when people shrank bank from his touch or turned their heads away. There was power in the unknown, in being a mystery, something otherworldly, something dark. 

"I have before."

Jongin stared back bravely for a few seconds. "Fine. Take someone with you though."

"Oh?" He pulled his eyebrows up. "Is that an order? Fine then, I'll take Sehun."

Immediately Jongin glared. "No. Someone else. Chanyeol, maybe. Or Baekhyun."

"So many demands." Kyungsoo clicked his tongue. "First it was anyone, now you give me only two options. Alright, alright, you play around as the boss here, I'll abide by your word." He kicked Chanyeol in the butt with the toe of his boot, relishing for a moment in the affronted cries of the tall warrior. "Hey, you. Wake up. Come with me." 

Chanyeol was sluggish at first, but as they begin to wander, he woke up quick enough, especially at the first sounds of something echoing in the distance. 

"What was that?" 

Both of them paused. Kyungsoo listened. "Nothing worrisome. Maybe a deepstalker. Or a bronto. Or a hurlock alpha."

"Darkspawn? Here!?" Chanyeol hissed, but Kyungsoo was already laughing.

"Keep your sword sheathed, I'm only joking."

Apparently his companion didn't find the joke funny. He shrugged and they moved on together. 

"Why do you insist on scouting ahead, alone. Isn't that just as dangerous?" Chanyeol asked.

It was, Kyungsoo figured. But with only one or two set of footsteps, anything they discovered would be less likely to hear them than if they all marched together. Their written maps were already exhausted. Baekhyun carried one copy of an ancient set of lines and swirls, crude, old and unfinished, and even the dwarves in the Shaperate would admit that dwarves hadn't traveled the subterranean highway this deep for centuries. Not since the first of many Blights after the darkspawn were discovered and had overwhelmed everything. Thaigs destroyed, and then lost, entire highways blocked, either from rock slides, collapses, or done intentionally to keep the darkspawn at bay. They started deeper in. Then slowly, one by one, thaig after thaig was lost until only Orzammar was the left. 

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol paused beside the crumbling statue of an unnamed forgotten Paragon. Before the great stone structure stood a signpost, halfway blurred from the crumbling dust. They had reached a four way intersection. 

Kyungsoo hummed. "This is why... because this is important, and I need time to meditate on which way to go."

Chanyeol scoffed. "Meditate? On a rune no one, not even the dwarves can remember how to read? Don't you mean you already know which way to go?"

"Something like that," Kyungsoo admitted. But in his mind he wasn't looking at the rune. He was imagining himself far away, in another dark and dampened space, lit by the everlasting torches that never went out, burning for centuries long after the dwarven empire had fallen to ruin. There, below the torch, on a stone table, rustling as one against many sets of parchment and scrolls, was the image he needed.

"How, if you've never been here before? Even the best map we were given doesn't show this many possible forks."

"I don't need a paper map," Kyungsoo shushed him. He needed to focus, to remember.

"Next thing you know, you'll be telling me it's all in your head."

"But it is... I've seen it."

 _There_ , he remembered, his brain searching for just the right parchment. 'Learn these, memorize these, Kyungsoo. One day you might need it. One day perhaps you will...' 

"We go left," he spoke suddenly. 

"Left," Chanyeol echoed hollowly. "I don't believe you. How can you know. The dwarves don't even know-"

"I didn't learn it from a dwarven map, Chanyeol." 

If the warrior had any questions for that, he did not speak them. Instead, Chanyeol's jaw dropped ominously low. A second later he shut it with much difficulty. Kyungsoo might have laughed at his expression, but he didn't think it would do him any good. Kyungsoo carried a borrowed crossbow. Chanyeol was skilled at the greatsword. In a heated moment, perhaps, Chanyeol could slice him open with one good swing before Kyungsoo could even fit a bolt to his bow. 

"Let's explore this way for a bit. Then we can return to the others."

Their way was lined with more Paragons. Chanyeol didn't like them. He regaled Kyungsoo instead with tales of golems, great stone creatures that looked inanimate but could be controlled through sorcery of some kind. It didn't matter that supposedly the secrets for binding golems had been lost forever, Chanyeol stared at every Paragon warily. They treaded lightly through a few more cave-ins, muttering vaguely about how Kris would surely enjoy crawling through the cramped space between fallen rocks and stonework. When Kyungsoo was satisfied there would be another accessible tunnel to follow after this one, they turned back. Only then did Chanyeol begin to annoy with him questions. 

"Why us though?"

"Hmm?" Kyungsoo murmured, confused.

"You started following us, back in Ferelden. You even saved Sehun's life a few times. And you've never really said why." 

"Perhaps I was minding my own life, and Sehun just looked so pretty passing by."

Chanyeol snorted. "If that's what you want us to believe, then fine." 

"You don't believe me?" Kyungsoo preened. "What, have you never noticed his shine? A real diamond in the rough."

Again, Chanyeol rolled his eyes. "More likely, you just want something from him. Why flirt with the boy when he can barely withstand it anyways?"

Oh, so had they noticed? Kyungsoo wondered. Chanyeol always seemed the most dense, but if anyone guessed, it wouldn't matter anyways. "Can't I flirt if I like someone?"

Chanyeol exhaled slowly, and it might even have been a laugh. "Sure, fine, but I will remind you that Sehun's the future Arl of West Hills, so you know... uhm... good luck with that one."

West Hills, of course. Kyungsoo smirked. It was highly unlikely they'd ever return there, but then life had a way of throwing out both the expected and the unexpected. Sure, maybe it would happen as Chanyeol naively believed. 

"Seems to me, the last I heard, there were two sons ahead of him in the succession, and quite the set of murdering cousins."

Let Chanyeol and the others continue to believe the only reason Changmin and his elder brother Yunho wanted Sehun dead was because of his father's title. Kyungsoo wouldn't mind keeping the mystery alive. As for Sehun's two older half-brothers, Junsu and Jaejoong, whether or not they lived or died to inherit the title didn't matter, not in the grand scheme of the world. Something bigger would come, one day, something so large it would sweep half of Ferelden into turmoil. His master had dreamed about it, seen it in a trance, and this time it would be no mere Blight. A tear in the sky, in the very fabric of the universe, ripping open the Veil itself. Was it true? Would it happen? And when? There were no solid answers, but better if they stayed clear of Ferelden. Better if they stayed clear of Orlais. How far might they go, to avoid the inevitable? Kyungsoo had just one mission left, a personal one, and then he would disappear. Maybe take Sehun with him, if he could. 

West Hills? A minor arling on the fringe of all civilization? How petty were the humans of this world, enjoying only the things they could see, touch, experience. Wealth, it would run dry. Power, someone could take it away. Knowledge, it could be forgotten. Even people could be lost if you weren't careful. Family could die, friends could perish, and a sickness could dwell in one's own body, slowly corrupting everything it touches from the inside out. 

Maybe they would die in these Deep Roads. Maybe that would a merciful way to go. Some people came here intentionally to die. Grey Wardens, when they hear the Calling. Convicts, and those who join the Legion of the Dead, no honor left except to fight the darkspawn til death and hope for redemption. Fools maybe, all of them. But then perhaps Kyungsoo was a fool as well, believing in some other end. Maybe they'd all die here, maybe later. But either way Kyungsoo was still dying...

Chanyeol opened his mouth to retort. Kyungsoo had forgotten they were still arguing about Sehun. 

"Wait, hush a moment..." He threw out his hand, listening, sensing. Even Chanyeol didn't argue, suddenly alerted to Kyungsoo's posture. 

He spun left, then right. They'd reached the intersection again, but from one of these other tunnels Kyungsoo felt their presence. He wasted no further time worrying about the future.

_Get up, now. Get everybody and run! This way! To me now!_

"What is it?" Chanyeol was already pulling his sword. They could hear them now with just the naked ear. Perhaps it was redundant to say it out loud. 

 _"_ Darkspawn." 

Chanyeol's eyes went wide, for this was something they hadn't encountered yet and Kyungsoo had hoped to avoid. 

 _Got it. On our way_ , Minseok's voice echoed through his mind.

"We have to get the others!"

"They're already coming," said Kyungsoo. Calmly, belying his fear, he readied his crossbow and checked his satchel for bolts. 

"What?!" Chanyeol shrieked. "How?" 

"Are you really going to waste time now? They can probably hear them coming. Now come on, the darkspawn will be coming from the right," Kyungsoo pointed down a darker set of tunnels, "and it's up to you and I to hold them off until the rest of us are past." 

Chanyeol choked down his distress and finally began surveying the area like a true soldier. "We can take the high ground from there," he quickly assessed.

Kyungsoo nodded, happy enough to let Chanyeol take charge of the battle until reinforcements came, _if_  they came in time. His own thoughts echoed laughably in his mind. Maybe they  _would_  die in the Deep Roads. But Kyungsoo wanted to live yet. 

 

 


	34. Beneath the Paragon, Before the Door

Sehun blinked his eyes open, prying his eyelashes apart. His head was pounding, his whole body ached. Someone was sitting on his legs. 

"Sehun? Sehun? Are you awake? Can you hear me?"

"Sehun? Blink if you hear us."

"Are you alright?"

Sehun?!"

"Sehun!"

He groaned and tried to roll over. His body, however, would not cooperate. 

"Quit it, guys. He needs space. Jongin, move."

A face swam before his eyes, two or three of them actually, or perhaps they were all the same. 

"Kyungsoo?" His tongue felt clammy in his mouth, heavy. 

"Yep. He's fine," said someone else. Then someone snickered.

"You're only looking at Minseok, not Kyungsoo, but that's fine. That's perfectly fine." 

Someone rubbed his shoulder, and another cradled his head. He was being lifted off the ground to a sitting position with somebody propping him up from behind. His whole head pounded twice more, and he wanted to vomit. 

"What happened?" he finally mouthed.

"You don't remember?" Minseok smiled at him. To his side, Yixing held his staff aloft, pointed at Sehun's body, mumbling words in an incomprehensible language that Sehun was suddenly afraid of, but whatever they did, he felt better. A healing feeling lifted through his spirits. His mind became numb, then clear, as if everything had to reset so he could focus once more, and remember.

"You were nearly taken out by a hurlock, don't you remember?" Baekhyun squatted by his feet, smirking. "You screamed like a little girl."

Sehun glared at him, but he was actually starting to remember. Minseok had suddenly shouted, told everyone to get up and move, now, that the darkspawn were coming. They had gathered their supplies as quickly as possible, a few things inevitably left behind in their haste. Sehun had a sad thought for his nice comfy bed roll which had served him so well for so long. Lost to the Deep Roads now, to be sure. They wouldn't be going back in that direction anytime soon. 

Maker's breath, those darkspawn were huge!

"Shut up," Sehun barked back. The elf just laughed, but he shut his lips dramatically and ran a finger across his lips. 

Sehun sighed. Behind him, Chanyeol shifted his weight so Sehun could sit up straighter. He rubbed his temples, frowning. "So that was a hurlock, huh?" he asked. 

Minseok nodded. "Yep. Do you feel better? Can you get up now and walk? We have temporarily blocked part of the tunnel, but they'll be through it soon enough if we don't get out of here quick."

Sehun grumbled. "Yeah, I can get up."

He wouldn't admit that the sounds echoing down the tunnel behind them made his heart rate quicken in panic. They had run so fast to the intersection where Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were holding out. Then Kyungsoo had shouted, 'To your left, go now!' and they'd all rushed that direction, all but the warriors who stayed to slow their attack. The first darkspawn Sehun ever saw in his life nearly scared the shit right out of him. 

According to the Chantry, the darkspawn were once men, magisters of the Tevinter Imperium, who opened to the gates to the Golden City and tainted the Maker's realm. But they were tainted themselves, transformed into monsters who could only live underground except during Blights, when they swarmed the surface behind the power of an Archdemon. According to the dwarves, they had just always been down there, a foul tainted race bent on killing. Whichever version was true, Sehun really didn't care, Maker forgive him. They were vile, they stank, their heads were shaped like crude featureless sculls, their bodies massive, brutal. And the hurlock which towered taller than the mere genlocks around him, had been doubly vicious. 

If Sehun remembered correctly, he had actually taken a blow on the side of his head against one. It had broken through the warriors' line of defense and nearly pulverized a completely stunned and frightened Suho. Sehun had pushed him aside. He definitely hadn't screamed like a girl, as Baekhyun was trying to claim.

The dwarf knelt beside him and was one of the most active now at helping him stand up. 

"Thank you," he whispered. 

Sehun smiled but said no more. Let the others acknowledge his heroics whenever they so wanted. A hero didn't gloat. Much.

He glanced around the rest of their party, sighing in relief when he counted eleven other members, a dog, and no one seriously injured except for him. Jongin limped a small amount, Jongdae cradled his right arm whining at Yixing to heal him too. Kris was sporting a new gash on the side of the face which had stopped bleeding but would definitely scar. It added to one or two other ones. Sehun thought they hadn't been there when they hired him on. It's been a long and adventurous few weeks, to be sure.

"Where are we going now?" he asked Luhan who was trailing along behind, his eyes cast backwards on the ground like he was looking for something.

The templar faced forward again and smiled wanly. "Somewhere. Who knows. Kyungsoo said he found a sealed doorway up ahead. If we can manage to get it open in time before the darkspawn follow us through our rock cave-in back there... we should be all set!" His forced cheeriness didn't appeal to either himself or Sehun. Both looked downtrodden for a moment before Luhan laughed. Then he went back to staring into the shadows behind him, sadly. 

"Lose something?" Sehun asked.

"Yeah... my pack. I can't remember if I left it at the camp or if I dropped it during the battle."

"Was it important though? Just food and supplies and we all have extra of those, right?"

Luhan had to force himself to stop looking back, and Sehun got the distinct impression that wasn't all he'd lost in his pack. "Oh," he said suddenly, understanding. "You were carrying lyrium, weren't you?" 

 

 

 

 

The belowground torches had finally failed. Perhaps they were so deep into the mountain now, or too far from the veins of magma or lyrium that they no longer worked. It was frightening to think where they might actually be. The Deep Roads were so vast, so deep, and here they were hemmed in with darkspawn behind them, the unknown before. 

_You sure you know how this works?_ Minseok thought, probing silently past the minds of the unaware bodies around them.

Aloud, Kyungsoo said, "This is an old dwarven trick. It's a puzzle... if we can just solve it... the gate may be unlocked."

Yixing floated several glowing orbs of pure light magic above their heads, illuminating the massive stonework door that, according to Kyungsoo, was their way out. Their only hope of salvation unless they fancied becoming snacks for the darkspawn. Or each other, thank Jongdae's grim imagination for that one.

"It  _m_ _ay_  be unlocked..." Baekhyun recited helpfully. 

"It's not complicated," Kyungsoo insisted. However, he continued to stand there and ponder the ancient markings carved in the stone, and the complicated dial that would, should, unlock the door. If it still worked. There were a lot of factors to consider, and most of them ended with the possibility of death. 

"You sure it's not a trap?" said Jongin. "If it's so easy, then why hasn't it been opened before, or explored before? We're probably not the only people to have accidentally ventured down this far since the time of its ruin."

At this Kyungsoo glanced sideways and caught Minseok's glance.  _He's right about that at least._

Jongdae sighed heavily and sat down on the ground, his back resting against a crumbling stone pillar. "Shall we take a gander at who, besides ourselves, would be so dumb to come this far, or else lucky that they even made it alive? What are talking about here? Some merchant expedition seeking treasure beyond the fringes of the world? Dwarves reclaiming lost thaigs?"

"It's been attempted before," said Jongin. He looked at Suho for confirmation.

The dwarf, after a moment's hesitation, confirmed it with a nod. "M-most though... don't return." 

"There, see!" cried Jongdae with glee. "We're all going to die. In the meantime, I shall nap." 

Chanyeol shuffled uncomfortably a few stances away. He'd yet to put sheath his sword, ever the battle-ready warrior. Blood dripped from its sharp edge, dark, almost black in this light, and it gave Minseok chills to look at it, a reminder of what they'd just faced. In spite Yixing and Minseok's magic spells that had reinforced the rock cave-in separating them from the darkspawn, the echoes of rock scratching up against rock reached them even now. They had put so much space between them, yet the sounds refused to be muffled.

Even the air was dank here, thicker, yet somehow colder. Like a sickness, a mold that clogged all their pores. Sehun was beginning to cough more frequently. Tao had taken to wearing a cloth around his nose. Baekhyun wore an extra coat, one of Jongin's. 

Minseok frowned.

_Do you or don't you know how to open this thing?_

_I do,_  came the answer a half minute later.  _Patience... it's been awhile since I've seen one of these doors._

Luhan sat down too, leaning against a different pillar than Jongdae. 

Minseok stared at the ancient stonework inscribed with something likely written by or referring to a paragon. So much dwarven history down here, abandoned and forgotten. Everything about this particular place signified they were near to some lost thaig. He grimaced, wondering what they might find on the other side of the door. Would there be bodies, bones, or just dust? Another hive of darkspawn squatting in the ruins? This was the first time he'd ever ventured this way, belowground, into the deep. Orzammar was one thing. The Deep Roads, something else entirely. Apart from Kyungsoo he knew only one other that had traversed such roads.

'They say ghosts walk there still. You can see them, feel them,  _hear_ them. Lingering like echoes amidst the dust.'

'You saw them?' 

'Why should I waste my breath making this up? Whole families and clans... preserved like wisps in the last moments of their life, playing, singing, running... such fear. You could almost  _taste it_.'

It had been Xiumin of course. One of the last times they spoke, still brothers, barely friendly, before they went their separate ways. Before Xiumin revealed his true nature and Minseok fled for his very life. 

What blood magic Xiumin might be able to do with a horde of darkspawn behind him. Minseok hoped he never had to find out.

He shook his head, clearing his mind. Luhan still sat by the base of the pillar, his eyes closed, as if he weren't aware of the mage hovering just overhead. Minseok sighed, then he too sat in its shadow and leaned against the templar.

"You alright?" he whispered.

Luhan's closed eyelids fluttered. He smiled without opening them and nodded  _yes_. Then, after a pause he shook his head _no_. 

"I want out of this place," the templar admitted softly. 

"You and me and everyone," said Minseok.

"How long has it even been?"

"Since we've been down here? Probably..."

"No, I mean since this whole... thing began."

"What thing, exactly?" Minseok furrowed his expression and looked directly upon the other's face. Luhan's coloring in the feeble white light of the magic orbs made him look sick. Minseok knew he was more well that, had in fact recovered nicely since their respite in Orzammar. 

Luhan didn't answer. But he did eventually open his eyes and look about as if seeing everything with fresh eyes. 

Something prompted Minseok to speak, a whim or some deeper notion of potential loss. But before he had time to think about it he'd already said the words, "Let's go away somewhere. You and me. After this is over."

He expected Luhan to be shocked. To gasp or get excited, be angry or appalled. Some form of reaction. Anything. 

"That sounds nice," the templar sighed instead. As if Minseok were only dreaming out loud. "Where do you want to go? Orlais? I bet we would make a fetching couple there. The templar and his mage. We'd be the talk of the court. Or should we go home? I could surprise my family. Dear brothers, sisters, I've returned with honors! Or well, not honors, but look at the record of my accomplishments, no? Evader, deserter. Destroyer of darkspawn and bears."

"You're laughing at me," said Minseok curtly. 

"Of course I am. Your jokes are too funny." And Luhan actually did laugh. It cut almost to Minseok's bones. 

"I meant it though."

"Oh?" Luhan silenced himself and murmured without enthusiasm, his laughter fading away. "Are you sure though? For one, it's not guaranteed that we won't perish right here under this monstrous looking door in the sight of a... is that a paragon above us? Secondly..." and at this he sighed anew. "I like you Minseok. A lot. A lot a lot, more than a lot. That's why I told you if you decided to leave sometime that I wouldn't stop you. I've broken a lot of vows since I became a templar and I'll keep breaking them if it means you get to live. But..."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes once more. Off to their side, Kyungsoo was issuing instructions to Kris, Jongin, and Tao about how to shift, push or touch random stones, and Jongdae and Suho were now whispering to each other. Yixing kept the light orbs moving so they could see what they were doing. Sehun perched on his heels low over the ground cuddling Alistair like the two were meant for each other, one a lowly nobleman's brat, the other a beast of war.

They were partially obscured behind the pillar, Minseok's side exposed and their legs sticking out. Private enough. 

"But?" Minseok pried. Even though he knew where this was probably going. And he didn't want it getting there.

He rolled onto his knees, turning away from the others' line of sight, turning right onto Luhan's lap where he promptly caged him in. Before the templar could do more than gasp and look up, Minseok held his face and brought their lips together. 

Luhan fought him. For a moment. His hands found Minseok's waist, pushing the mage away even as they kissed. A weak effort that Minseok nevertheless responded to. He pulled his head away in spite of his better wishes, instinct drumming from inside his chest. He wanted... craved the touch of the templar which in the beginning had seemed so innocent. A lie down here, a teasing snuggle there, the touch of another in time of help. Why, since they had been in Orzammar, did Minseok sense something had changed? Luhan had become distant. He no longer walked beside Minseok at every moment, no longer touched their hands together when they passed. His eyes no longer shined. 

"Luhan?" he whispered down into the face that peered upwards. It was an earnest expression, seeking... something in the way of answers, yet Minseok didn't even know the questions. How could he know what went on inside this templar's head except that he professed to like Minseok a lot, had kissed him with a brief flair of passion, and then had struggled to push him away?

Although Luhan's hands still circled Minseok's waist.

And Minseok's palms still cupped the templar's cheeks. One thumb rested along the crease of Luhan's chapped, yet pretty lips. He moved it, stroking the lower lip and Luhan's eyes fluttered closed as his head tipped back. The same muscled hands that had held Minseok at bay now seemed to be drawing him in. He parted his mouth. Minseok slipped his thumb inside, wetting just the tip, and from that sensation alone he had to hold back a groan. 

He inhaled once, nostrils flaring, before diving down again and this time Luhan put up no reluctance. He immediately sucked the mage's lips between his own. His hands met and crossed one another low behind Minseok's back as their bodies drew near against the other. Luhan's head craned upwards, bent at an odd angle from where Minseok held him aloft. He tasted like ale, bitter and stale. The sweat and dirt against his skin of his neck rubbed along Minseok's grasping fingertips. Whispers assailed their ears from beyond the pillar, the dashing and hammering of rocks echoed from the passage behind. A broken paragon watched from above. 

Slowly, their lips withdrew. Minseok rested his forehead against the other's and willed his breaths to calmly even out. Luhan mumbled, his voice beginning to stir. If he wanted to continue that talk from before, Minseok wouldn't be able to stop him. He did however press a kiss to the templar's closed eyelids, one and then the other. 

"Minseok."

Minseok smirked, a soft laugh emitting from his lips. "I never told you..."

"What?"

"How happy I am that you call me by my real name."

He meant it sincerely. A token of how much they had gone through and how far they had come. For though the deception had been accidental, and for a while, necessary, the relief Minseok felt when he finally shared his secret... with Luhan... it calmed him despite everything else.

But apparently the reverse was true for Luhan. The templar pushed him away, a thought or memory clouding his expression like a sudden bad feeling. Minseok suspected it but could not understand. Was it because he'd reminded him that another existed? Xiumin, his brother, who had driven them to these tunnels? 

"You looked away from me," Minseok whispered, his voice pinched tight as he worried. "Just now. Why?"

Luhan sighed. "This isn't the place to discuss it."

"You were going to earlier though. Why. Is it Xiumin?"

"Yes."

_Minseok..._

"What about him? We'll get around him. I know how to hide from him. Once we find the foun- once we get away out of these roads and everyone gets on their own paths again, we can..." His words faltered. He had almost slipped up. Luhan didn't apparently notice. 

_Minseok._

Minseok also didn't know what he was trying to say. Before he made rash promises about being with Luhan and coming up with fantastical agendas like them traveling the world together forever, he needed to stop. He needed to slow down. They both did, and yet half of his pleas has already come out of his mouth. "I just... I mean."

"Minseok, I get what you're trying to say. And... But what about Xiumin? Why is he following you? Why does he want you dead? And what are you planning to do about that? Kill him? Will you really kill your own brother?" 

 

"He... he tried to kill me," Minseok heard himself utter, not believing his own convictions.

 

"And so you could do the same to him? Minseok, really? You're not a blood mage. You're not like him, and you..." Luhan held a hand up to the mage's chest. Minseok had slipped backwards off his lap. He now crouched on his knees and heels to the side of Luhan's body. And Luhan seemed much more put together in this moment than Minseok felt. "I'm not sure what I'm trying to say. I don't know what I even expect right now. But you and me..."

"Are you worried he'll always be following me? Shadowing me wherever I go. Is that why you don't want to be around me? Because I put you in danger?"

_Minseok..._

"That's not it," Luhan sighed. "Look, ignore me. I'm not even sure what I'm thinking right now. And..." His eyes softened once more, and Minseok looked into a paler shade of the same gleam Luhan had when they kissed.

_Hey, mage!_ Kyungsoo scoffed indignantly.

"What!" Minseok shouted out loud, suddenly furious at the interruption.

Someone coughed. Another person snickered.

Minseok and Luhan looked up together and saw hovered there Tao and Kyungsoo and Jongin, and Baekhyun with his arm around the shield warrior's neck, as if they'd been standing around watching some prime entertainment. Minseok had no idea how long they'd all be standing there, but it was enough to make Luhan flush scarlet and Minseok start to worry. 

_I tried to get your attention._ Kyungsoo arched a pair of bored eyes.

Jongin cleared his throat. "Kyungsoo, uhm... got the door open. We should probably go through before Chanyeol's and Kris's strength gives out and it shuts again locking us all in.

The scrambled to their feet just as Baekhyun jeered, "Yeah, Jongdae and Suho are already on the other side, probably making out like you guys were and giving Sehun an eyeful. Come on, hop to it!"

A full sigh of relief went through the entire party when they all emerged through the other side, and the two tallest warriors groaned and released the stone barrier. It slid shut with an aching screach, and finally they had another wall between them and the darkspawn. And yet another dark, damp hole of a corridor before them. 

Luhan moved quickly to stand by the others. Minseok watched him not so covertly when he stood by Sehun with his arm around the younger boy, Alistair panting by their feet as they spoke companionably. 

Minseok nearly jumped when the other mage suddenly materialized at his side. 

"What... Yixing! You startled me."

"Obviously," said the elf with a dry laugh. He followed Minseok's gaze, then mimicked Luhan's pose by putting his own arm around Minseok's neck and drawing him close. "I couldn't help but overhear and... see."

Minseok didn't respond. He shuffled his feet and turned his eyes, expecting Yixing to tease him, taunt him, say anything about Luhan and the templar's fate, and the likely heartbreak that would emerge in the end. 

He'd forgotten of course that his friend was a mage, and a wise mage beyond his years with experience in matters Minseok hadn't even dreamed of dabbling with. 

"Do you know," Yixing whispered softly, his breath tickling the hair at Minseok's nape, right into his ear for him alone to hear. "Before... when you two were together, I didn't notice it. It was airy, aloft. Like a note floating about in the wind, lost, and unwhole. But now that we're in these tunnels, it's become clearer..." he paused dramatically.

Minseok felt the urge to shirk the elf's arm off his elbow. However he kept himself still and asked, "What? Me and Luhan?"

Yixing chuckled. "No... not Luhan. Oh, that's another matter entirely, and I completely trust you to muck that up on your own with no help from me. But no, Minseok. I mean you and Kyungsoo... You and  _Kyungsoo_ , my friend. I can hear you."

Minseok's blood ran cold. How could he not have suspected? How could he have thought that Yixing, with all his power, would be not be listening in.

"Minseok, my friend. I came along with you because you seemed to need help, your friends were amusing, your love life is... interesting, and because we have always trusted each other before. So tell me... friend. Where is this place you seek? This,  _Well of Emerald Waters?_ " 

 


	35. Dragon's Lair

By the time they realized the level ground was now angling up, another day had passed. Tao fumbled with a stamina potion, his tired hands sluggish with ache, and the bottle slipped from his hands, bounced along the stone and rolled—actually rolled—downward and away. It stopped at the base of Yixing's foot who lifted it with a smile. Then, for one silent moment, everyone smiled too.

"We're going up," Chanyeol murmured with fresh hope in his eyes.

They had seen nothing either of interest or excitement since slipping through the door. A smaller den of spiders, less threatening than the ones they'd killed before. Various forks in the tunnelworks and another near scare when they heard darkspawn from far off. Kyungsoo steered them away. He marched resolutely forward, only pausing when they encountered other openings for which he stopped and considered each one a full minute. Sometimes he brought Suho forward and the two of them convened, discussing what the ancient dwarven markings might have meant.

Baekhyun was pretty sure it was all just for show. Kyungsoo needed no help; his subterranean navigation skills were beyond advanced. Not just uncannily good, but extraordinarily so. It was curious.

"You think we're on the other side of the mountains now?" Luhan asked aloud.

Jongin took it upon himself to answer. "Can't be sure, but I'd hazard a guess, yes."

"I always wanted to visit Orlais," the templar muttered. "Just never thought it would be like this."

"You mean skulking underground like scavengers as we flee from just about... I don't know, everything?" suggested Baekhyun with a laugh.

Luhan shrugged.

The next time they took a break hours later as they prepared to sleep—was it even nighttime or day?—Jongin signalled Baekhyun and Chanyeol to speak. They separated from the others, far enough away to whisper and not be overheard. Jongin frowned with a severe slant to his face.

"Uh oh, you've got your thinking face on," said Baekhyun.

Chanyeol huddled closer and they traded sipping stale ale from the same pack to avoid suspicion. Baekhyun figured it was a hopeless front, but Jongin sure wanted to try.

"We need a plan," said the warrior.

"I agree. Plans are good. Let's plan. What's the plan?"

Jongin nodded, blankly accepting Baekhyun's unhelpful encouragement. "Yes. Plan. As soon as we leave the Deep Roads, we separate from the others."

"Others?" asked Chanyeol with a quick look behind him.

"You, me and Baekhyun, Sehun, and Kris, because we hired him."

"I like this plan," said Baekhyun. "Plans are great. This is swell. Now would you like to propose how we do that? Are we just going to greet the sunlight and then say our teary goodbyes, or do you suggest sneaking away in the night?"

Surprisingly, Chanyeol was on the same page as him. He frowned at the shield warrior. "Jongin, we won't know where we are. We could come out anywhere along the western mountain range, and that's if we haven't passed it completely. Have you ever been to Orlais?"

"No, but Baekhyun has. Why else do you think he's here?" Jongin fired back quick.

The elf lifted his eyebrows disdainfully. "Oh, is that all? And here I thought I got this job purely based on looks."

Outwardly, Jongin ignored his jibe, but down by their sides, the warrior's hand found Baekhyun's and while Chanyeol argued logistics, he squeezed it reassuringly. The simple motion ignited a burning, sizzling sensation in the pits of his heart. He zoned out, ears unlistening, eyes raking over Jongin's face, dirty with grime and days' old stubble and for the first time since... forever, Baekhyun felt that worrisome emotion he'd trained for years to stamp out: a fluttering of love, or something like it.

"It's a prudent move anyways. Minseok will understand. This many people traveling together is too noticeable."

Baekhyun gulped.

Noticeable is how he liked to flirt and play around, and noticeable was how much he had Jongin under the palm of his hand when they ‘played’ together.

"And the others?" Chanyeol asked. "We leave Jongdae and Suho and Tao to fend for themselves?"

"Jongdae is perfectly capable of doing whatever he wants. Tao is... well, Tao can do what he wants as well. The point is that us three have a mission and that's to get Sehun to his aunt, and right now, we are at greater risk of being caught because of Minseok and his... family drama."

Oh right, the mission that Baekhyun has been paid to attend to. Protect the nobleman's bastard, see him to safety, and then they can all go their separate ways. Chanyeol and Jongin were already a part of Sehun's household. Baekhyun was no one.

"Minseok's family drama. What a succinct way to put it. But you forget that Sehun has enemies all on his own."

"I haven't forgotten."

"They might have followed us. There was nothing to stop them from crossing at Gherlen's Pass. They could be anywhere on this side of the mountain by now."

"Chanyeol, we don't even know where we are. Which means, they won't either."

"Point taken," the tall swordsman agreed. "My next question is, where is Sehun's aunt and is her home actually safe?"

Safe and sound. When Sehun is safe and sound, Baekhyun's role is done. He'll be released from his contract and set to wander the worlds again. Alone. As he'd always been. Or, as he'd been since his clan kicked him out. Had they kicked him out? So many of Baekhyun's memories had grown fuzzy with the years. He remembers being awful. He remembers causing a small riot on purpose. He also doesn't regret it. The clan had meant home in so many ways, family, even to those who weren't blood-related, and Baekhyun wasn't blood-related. He was an orphan, or at least that's what the elders and the Keeper had said. He had no parents, which Baekhyun took to mean they were either dead, or they'd given up their clan heritage and struck out to live a different kind of life, or both. Elves who voluntarily left the clan were considered dead. Perhaps Baekhyun was always meant to be like them, the parents he had never known. A wanderer, a seeker for something else. It was just his luck, or perhaps misfortune, to fall under the hands of the sect which took him in and taught him nearly everything he knows. Namely, don't get too close. Don't get attached. Don't fall in love.

"I can find her estate easily enough."

"Which means, Sehun's kin can find it as well," Chanyeol mumbled in concern.

"Your point taken as well. But that's why we have _us_ , and Baekhyun and Kris can remain with us for as long as it takes to keep Sehun alive."

"Oh, so I'm just a commodity?" Baekhyun laughed. "Sure you can continue to afford my services?"

Jongin squeezed his hand again, this time harder, but aloud he cocked his head and said, "Hey, if we have to let Kris go to keep you on, I guess that's what we'll have to do."

Baekhyun hummed with exaggerated dissatisfaction. "Well, seeing as how I don't get paid until we actually return to West Hills... or perhaps the aunt will pay? Who are you to assume I won't get tired with you lot and give the venture up as a lost cause?"

He meant it as a joke, but Jongin turned towards him sharply as if he couldn't believe the suggestion. "You... you wouldn't... would you?" he asked shakily.

And Baekhyun, serious for just this moment, inhaled slowly through his nose, then let his breath go. "I suppose I wouldn't, no."

"Glad that's settled," Chanyeol startled them out of their rapport.

  
  
  


For all their time underground, they'd certainly heard a lot of things. Scrabbling sounds along the stone, the screeching of spiders, the war cries of the darkspawn and a host of smaller ghoulish creatures. After an estimated two days of upward mobility, however, Kris, feared qunari and legendary mercenary of a thousand or so (exaggerated) raids, heard a sound that made his blood run still.

They all did.

And they all froze in their tracks.

"Was that..."

Another shrill cry echoed down the stonework tunnel from somewhere up above. It must still be a great distance away, yet the animal was impossible to not know.

"Dragon..." Kris thundered ominously.

But there was no other way to go. Kyungsoo remained adamant that all other paths behind them would not secure their passage out of the mountain. Forward was the only way to go.

"Past a dragon?!" Even Tao was terrified stiff.

"No," said Yixing. "Not a dragon... but a drake."

"And what in this worm's den of a mountain is the difference between a dragon and a drake?!" cried Baekhyun.

The elf had already retrieved his bow from his back and was fitting an arrow to the slot as if he expected to be attacked at any second. Only Kris's deeply driven warrior training kept him from doing the same with his greatsword. Another piercing howl, no closer than the first, but still loud, had most everyone clutching their eardrums in fright.

"It's a drake," Yixing insisted. "You can tell by the pitch of its voice. Trust me, I'm something of a draconologist. Kyungsoo, I know you have a secret map imprinted in your brain you've been reluctant to share with us, but tell us straight right now, right this second..." the mage paused heavily until he was assured the smaller man listened, "Does our route through the mountains take us past Hryngnar's Lair, yes or no?"

It was a conflict no one foresaw, the mage and the dark-smudged man locked in a battle of wills as each stared the other down, hard.

"Yixing?" Minseok tried to intervene. The other mage held up a hand, demanding silence until Kyungsoo answered.

Kris had heard nothing about a secret map, but if the man had one relegated to memory, it made perfect sense. Otherwise they would never have delved so far into the Deep Roads. To admit it though out loud... on this everyone waited. Then, finally, the small man nodded.

"Hryngnar's Lair... yes."

A veritable uproar exploded as one by one, the members of their party began to argue and ask questions. What was this lair, why was there a drake. Did Kyungsoo know of this? Did Minseok know of this, since he apparently put so much trust in Kyungsoo's navigational plans. Question after question after accusation, and this while yet another horrific shriek send vibrating sensations cascading through the tunnel.

"Silence!" Yixing yelled, louder than all the rest. "Unless you want to announce our presence this soon!"

In the vacuum that followed, only Jongin stepped up. They had a decision to make. Inquire about Kyungsoo's motivations, or learn about what they would face ahead. "Yixing... explain."

The mage sighed heavily and began to speak. "It's an old Avvar fort, tucked into the western ledge of the Frostbacks. A ruin, now for centuries. Legends, however, told of its mountainside caverns and a connection to the Deep Roads, to Orzammar, back in times when the Avvar traded secretly with the dwarves. I had thought, until now, that any such passages had long been severed." He looked once more at Kyungsoo with a suspicious tilt of his head. "It appears, I was wrong."

Kris cleared and throat and hesitated to ask, "And the drake?"

"Worse than that." Yixing met his gaze with clear, cold eyes. "Most likely more than one. Could be several. Hryngnar, since it was abandoned, has been infested by all kinds of species. Ice trolls, most famously in the Storm and Blessed Age. As of fifty years ago... it's been the roost of a mature dragon. She's made it her lair. The drakes are her wingless males. They remain with the nest, with the eggs. They will protect those eggs to the death. And Kyungsoo here has us trotting right through the center of their lair..."

All eyes turn to Kyungsoo. Even he, usually so strong and bold appeared to wither before their glares.

"I... I didn't know."

Unfortunately, it was too late now. This was evidenced most forcefully a minute later when Chanyeol dropped the load of supplies he was carrying in the center of the tunnel and sat down in the dirt beside it. Kris thought he was giving up, or was laying down to die. However, Chanyeol peered around at each person calculatingly, drew out a few blank pieces of scroll and parchment and said, to no one in particular, but to everyone, "Well then. Let's map out a solid plan, shall we? Strategies, let's discuss."

Only after they'd sketched out a rough map of the lair with Yixing's and Kyungsoo's joint knowledge, and every person in the party was given a specific task to bring about the successful attack of whatever they might find there inside, did Chanyeol and especially Jongin relax. And only then did Minseok draw Yixing away privately into the shadows of the tunnels to talk. Kris didn’t thought it especially odd that the two mages might yet have secrets to discuss, but how of all the people gathered there neither Luhan nor Suho seemed pleased about that. Both of their heads, from opposite sides of the tunnel followed the mages’ path with unveiled fear in their eyes.

  
  
  


"You can't do this."

Minseok whipped around to stare at Luhan. "What?" he said, ripping his shoulder away from where the templar held his sleeve. "Do what?"

"This, attacking a drake and possibly a dragon with-"

"Luhan, I thought we agreed we had to either sneak daintily past a wakeful drake, or else kill it." Minseok laughed, but the underlying frustration on Luhan's face was worrisome. Had the templar finally cracked? This many days underground, it wasn't unheard of.

"I mean with Yixing. I mean, _with Yixing_ leading the assault."

They drew quiet. Ahead of them, the other mage and half their warriors crouched low as they peered around a large stone marker. They had left narrow tunnels behind hours ago. This now, was the cavern, the back entrance to Hyrngnar's Lair. For all intents and purposes, their presence had yet to be noticed by the brooding drakes inside. Three of them, Yixing had counted three of them. He'd also promised to stun each one as best he could. It wouldn't kill the drakes, it would barely even knock them out. But any advantage in this situation would help.

And now Luhan was questioning this entire endeavour? How... why did he say this?

Minseok glanced behind them. Tao, Sehun and Suho made up their rear. Luhan was supposed to remain with them, to be the back shield and guard. So was Minseok. It was the reason they straggled now.

"We don't have time for this," Minseok started.

"We should make time for this." Luhan's eyes narrowed, a harsh glint to his eyes where usually they were soft. "Minseok, I know... I know what he is. So must you. So tell me, can you trust him... in this?"

Minseok didn't gasp. He didn't even breathe. He held the templar's glaze steadily, one hand on his staff. Another screech of the drake sounded through the cavern, and this time they all felt it. Hot, warm breaths, like a steam bath but smelling much more foul. Another drake echoed the cry of the first.

"They know something's here," Yixing called from the front. "We have to get a move on, now."

And yet Minseok stared at Luhan, refusing to flinch. "I can. He can be trusted," he said in between clenched teeth. "How do you know? When did you find out?"

Some part of him wanted Luhan to be confused, or to have mistaken some other truth. Perhaps it was a ploy either way, to get Minseok to confess to knowing. By the gleam of Luhan's smile now though, Minseok knew he had backed himself into a corner with this.

"So you do know..." said Luhan.

Minseok held his silence until Baekhyun hissed for them to move. Tao and Sehun went hurrying past. One glance ahead told Minseok that it was now or never.

Only Suho held back. He put his elbow on Luhan's forearm and stared hard at Minseok as well. How much had he overheard? How much had he divined? The expression of his face spoke of all Minseok needed to know.

"You too?" the mage whispered.

Luhan peered down in shock at the dwarf, verifying yet another fact. The two of them hadn't shared this discovery with each other. Which meant Luhan knew from some other way. He really needed to guard his expression, Minseok perceived. Perhaps Minseok would teach him, later. If there was a later.

  


  


The worst thing about about battles for Suho, was that he never knew where to go or what to do. He was useless still, even after all his lessons. Even after all the training Jongdae, and then Chanyeol and even Kris had put him through. He carried a large weapon, to be sure, but how to wield it? How even to defend himself? In the last skirmish with the darkspawn, he had nearly died. There was no getting around that small little fact. Sehun had saved his life, and thus almost died himself. And that was just against mortal men. Demonish creatures to be sure, but humanoid, tainted, men.

These though... these were dragons. Or close thereof.

Suho crouched low behind Baekhyun's small form. His job was to follow the elf wherever he went and, hide behind him. They skirted the far wall now while Baekhyun looked for place to fire his bow. On the opposite side of the cavern went Jongin, Chanyeol and Jongdae, Yixing and Kyungsoo covering from the rear. Right, and left, with a drake in between.

It was terrifying. Three times the height of the qunari, teeth as long as Suho's body, and the piercing horror of its eyes when it realized their attack. Its scales, dark blue and black, were as large as Suho’s whole head. If he made it out alive with his britches still dry, it would be a miracle. How people could ever go up against a creature like this and live to tell the tale was beyond him.

And these weren't even the real things.

A mature dragon. This was the lair of some mature dragon. Suho controlled his breathing as he and Baekhyun scampered along the high cavern walls. The rock felt slimy to his hands. The entire place reeked of filth and decay, the breeding, literally mating grounds for the entire dragon species.

The drake screeched. It bucked its body and arched its head. Suho had half a second to gasp and cry out, before he realized it wasn't even looking at him. Jongin's armor glinted in the hazy, murky light. Beyond them was the sunlight. After so many days, there it was. And a drake blocked the way.

It curved its long neck and slashed its teeth, but did not yet attack. Instead, incredibly, the great beast wheeled its head around and slowly began to back up. Great clawed-feet, it was half serpent half dragon, with all the terrifying features of both. Just because it could not fly did not mean it was any less dangerous.

"What's it doing?" Tao whispered from behind Suho's head. The boy held a newly found dwarven sword in his hands, but like Suho he was unused to wielding it. Even Sehun was better than he with the dual knives he held between clenched fists, although none of them needed them yet. Baekhyun let an arrow fly. It missed the drake's eye by inches and pierced its neck instead.

"Barely even passed through the skin, this is going to be fun!" the elf cried in frustration. His arrow was a mere pinprick to the giant beast.

From their vantage point, it was the perfect time to strike. Jongin realized it too. He and the others in the forward guard pressed towards it in a semi-circle, shields and weapons in the air. The drake's head careened about, but it had yet to strike back. Instead, it continued moving steadily into a corner.

"Why, why's it doing that?" Tao still wondered.

And that's when Suho saw it. Baekhyun remarked at the same time, "The eggs. Look at them. It's backing up to protect his eggs."

Three monstrous ovular shapes gleamed against the dark rock of the cavern wall. Behind it, old markings carved by the ancients held it in magnanimous backdrop.

"It's going to die like that, if they corner it," said Sehun.

Baekhyun shook his head. “Perhaps. But it won’t go easily. It's because it's a trap. But we already knew that."

"The other drakes," Suho said suddenly. "Where are they?"

A split second before Jongin lunged, Yixing struck a massive spell of blinding light right towards the first drake's eyes. It cried and convulsed, but was blinded long enough for Jongin to strike. Next to him, Chanyeol and Jongdae seized forward too. The sound of their metal slicing through leathery flesh and scales ripped a cry of anguish from the drake. Still blind, it's head bowed forward and a half blast of fiery wind burst from its mouth. Jongin ducked. His shield took the hit as he rolled to the side. Jongdae dived the other way, and before the drake had recovered, the nimble assassin was back on his feet with his daggers slicing through the chest of the beast.

Baekhyun let another arrow fly. This time it struck deeper in the drake's neck. It landed next to a crosshair from Kyungsoo's weapon. Suho couldn't even see the man, he blended in so well with the shadows.

The first drake seemed already on its last leg. Yixing was sending spell after spell towards it, weakening or else draining the creature of its strength and defense. It was easier now that they were actually fighting it. It would drop any minute now, especially with Minseok's spells combining their bombardment.

And then, another drake howled through a shadowed arch from another tunnel of the cavern, and Suho’s body shook anew.

"Round two!" He heard Jongdae cry in excitement.

"Round two?" Baekhyun hissed mockingly. "We're still on Round one, this is not as much fun as I thought it would be!"

The first drake seized upon the second's surprise launch, and dived towards the qunari. Kris careened and dove away, but not before a parcel of razor sharp teeth sliced through his shoulder. It missed his neck by inches. He gave a mighty cry of war, grunting as he hit the ground. Jongin was before him by the time the drake could restrike, and this time, teeth meshed with metal, foiling its final kill. Chanyeol used the reverberations to sneak beneath the beast and plunge his greatsword deep through its heart. It wailed as it died. The serpentine tail skidding across the rocks, tearing off pillars and pieces of the ruins. Kyungsoo cried out as his body was whipped through the air, caught in the circular spin of the drake as it gnashed out and crumbled to the ground.

"Kris!" Both Jongin and Chanyeol knelt by the man where he lay. Baekhyun stood up on his rock to better see, but he wasn't looking at the fallen warrior.

"Get up you three, it's coming! The second one is coming now!" he roared.

And through the archway, rumbled the second drake. This was one larger than the first, and twice as angered. Its scales were blacker, but tinged with a shade of red as if anticipating the carnage it would wreak today.

Luhan was there to meet it. So was Minseok, and Alistair, his great war dog, eyes glinting cruelly through the humid haze, and his teeth bared out in menacing disarray. It should have frightened any beast. But the drake, massive in strength and power, didn't even see it. It focused on Luhan's sword and shield instead, on its fellow drake which lay bleeding across the rocks.

Luhan struck forward. Minseok, a few steps behind, waved his staff high above his head. Suho, still clutching his own measly weapon, had to blink and shield his eyes. The staff transformed, tip to base like a sword but with with the same magic behind it. It sliced through the drake's chest as easily as a sword, distracting the beast enough that Alistair could slink between its legs and attack from the belly.

Suho clenched his eyes and looked away. It was a massacre. He hated the beasts, and granted, they would rip off his head as soon as they pleased, but inside the cavern it was still a massacre. Jongin and Chanyeol had regrouped. Jongdae remained behind to lift Kris off the ground. Tao, taking the bait, raced behind their protective stone barrier to help. Kris was alive. Injured and suffering badly, but alive. With so many bodies, it seemed only a matter of time until the second drake was dead too.

Baekhyun wasn't looking at it though. He stood atop a rock, and then climbed even higher up another ledge, hand shielding his eyes as he stared around the lair.

"Where is it, come on. Where is it. Where're you hiding?" he grumbled.

They'd only encountered two drakes. And right now, that was a good thing because there was no way they could have survived two or three at once, and a mature dragon on top. It was to their benefit that they'd come one at a time. But there were definitely three. And if the third one was still hiding, it could not mean good things.

Something rustled behind him. Suho jumped because of course he feared the drake, but it was Sehun rushing past him.

Baekhyun cried out. "Sehun, get back here now!"

The second drake wasn't even dead. The warriors still fought. Yixing had joined the fray, but they lacked Kris' muscle and Jongdae’s blades. They were also lacking Kyungsoo. Suho squinted and stared across the ground. The smaller man was nearly invisible, laying in the shadows. But he wasn't getting up. Sehun, oblivious to all other possible dangers, raced to his side and crouched there in a panic.

"Stubborn brat, you'll get yourself killed," Baekhyun grunted as he hopped down from his perch. "Come on, quick," he gestured for Suho to move. The two of them sprinted across the ground, avoiding the fallen drake, pausing only to check that Kris was alright. Jongdae smiled briefly, a reassuring expression that did much to calm Suho's nerves. He kept following Baekhyun. Sehun knelt beside Kyungsoo's fallen form, tears already in his eyes.

"We need a mage. He needs help," Sehun cried.

Kyungsoo's eyes lolled around, his vision swimming. He couldn't focus on Sehun even though the boy was right overhead. Suho quickly examined his body. The drake's tail, spiked and deadly had crashed right into Kyungsoo's lower back, both knocking him off his feet and tearing the skin, maybe even more. He was bleeding through his robes. But when Suho reached for him, Sehun cried even louder.

"What are you doing?! You'll hurt him!"

"I have to see what's wrong first!"

"Sehun, calm down," Baekhyun's even-toned voiced cautioned from above. He stood with his arrow still ready to fire, ever watching for the third drake, but also letting one or two fly towards the second drake, which was already on its side, panting, but still snapping its teeth. Jongdae and Kris quickly maneuvered towards them too, the two injured bodies lying side by side. Kris at least could sit up.

Suho tore into Kyungsoo's robes. His hands would be stained, tainted no doubt, but if anyone was going to die right here, it wouldn't be because Suho didn't try. Both mages were occupied. Suho still couldn't believe that Yixing was doing this, but it was not his priority right now. He tore the fabric and pushed Kyungsoo onto his side, wincing at the wound marks and tattered flesh. His back was as blotchy as the rest of his body, and maybe he was a dangerous creature under too much suspicion but here, crying in agony, Kyungsoo was just a man.

"Here," said Kris, who dropped his pack of supplies. He began fumbling with the tie but produced a small potion of ointment and a bundle of rags. "Use this."

"Thanks," said Suho, grabbing for the bottle.

The second drake gave another screeching roar, followed the sound of his long neck and head hitting the ground. The whole cavern rumbled, but one look over showed that none of theirs were seriously injured. Sehun continued his sniffling, but now the drake was dead, his attention went completely to Kyungsoo. He held the man's gloved hands and whispered soothing words. Kyungsoo wavered in and out of consciousness.

"We can't stay here," said Yixing, without looking down. "Kris, you're okay to walk? There will be another one soon and-

"We're not leaving without Kyungsoo," Sehun grunted through clamped jaw.

"We may have to... Is he even capable of being moved? We can't carry him away. This lair is thousands of feet up the mountain, and we still have to skirt our way down. Quickly!"

"I'm not leaving without him," Sehun repeated. "Aren't you a healer?! Then heal him?"

Minseok knelt by Suho's side. "We can bind these wounds with a healing spell, but he'll still need to be carried. Who can do that now. Chanyeol? Tao?"

"We can try," echoed the two.

"Then let's get ready to move."

Yixing looked frustrated, but he didn't contradict Minseok's decision.

The twelve of them and Alistair shuffled awkwardly towards the sunlit ledge. The old ruined fort was massive. It meandered out before their eyes, ledge after ledge of leveled and crumbling stone stretching halfway down the mountain. Any other day, Suho would marvel at the horizon. A setting sun illuminating hills and valleys and a great forest beyond. The lands of the Dales, of the Marches, and of the great kingdom of Orlais.

But now was not that moment. Not when a lone, smaller mountain range lay between them and the forest, and a great valley in between. And not when a great commotion of wind and turmoil and the shrieking of something louder and more fierce than the drakes was coursing through the air.

"Dragon!" Kris screamed. It flew towards them at an unhurried pace, ghosting through the air like it had all the time in the world to rain down fire and destruction.

It did too. For before them were perilous steps and ledges. And behind them, came the third and final drake.

"Yixing..." Minseok stuttered. "Yixing, I think now would be a good time to..."

The two mages exchanged a measured glance. Then the older of the two nodded once. He threw his staff towards Minseok's palm who caught it, and began shouting orders. "Everyone, down now. One step at a time, and we keep going no matter what."

"But," said Jongin, his hand waving at the ominous dragon in the sky.

"Come, listen to Minseok," Luhan interrupted him. "Now."

They moved as one, shuffling into formation, two abreast down the slippery steps of the ruined fort, Chanyeol with Kyungsoo in his arms, and Tao with Kris leaning upon his shoulder. Only Yixing remained.

Suho turned back to watch. Despite their fear, they all did. So they all watched as Yixing threw aside his robes, shredding them to the ground. He stood bare and naked on the ledge of the ruin, a massive drake crawling forward as his backdrop, and a furious dragon circling up ahead. The sun beat a shimmering glow upon his skin.

Then his body convulsed, his back hunched, his neck cracked and popped. His arms grew long. Skin ripped apart flesh from flesh, and a sinuous membrane of bone and scales burst through his body as he grew, and contorted.... and transformed.

Suho knew. He had seen it happen once before, and it had terrified him then as it still did now.

A dragon stood where Yixing had been.

 


	36. Descent

It can't often be said that Jongdae has ever scampered. Scampering is for cowards and wimps too lazy to fight, or for small children as they scuttle away from a frightening sight. In duals, Jongdae has always turned backwards to fight. To protect those whose safety he was concerned with, likewise. And in an enclosed battle with a drake, that was excitement personified.

But this, this was a little bit different.

Jongdae had never moved this fast before. The steps were old, worn from centuries of exposure. The stone was cracked in places. Elsewhere, there was no railing, only perilous ledges promising falls from a height too high to survive.

A dragon. Yixing was an actual, piss-stinkin' dragon.

"You knew!" He yelled at Suho. The two raced down together, their gazes alternating every other second from the battle in the sky to their shaky footing. Rocks accompanied their passage downward. In front of them grunted Jongin and Baekhyun, Sehun right behind them, with Baekhyun's palm latched firmly around his wrist because he kept twisting around to see if Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were still coming.

"Incoming!" Luhan shouted from above. He and Minseok were the last to descend, all others sandwiched between them including Chanyeol with his injured charge, Tao and Kris.

"Behind the tower!" Jongin echoed from the front. They had reached a level balcony below a half-collapsed tower. Over their heads swooped a dragon, and they had no idea which one it might be.

At running speed, Jongdae slammed Suho into the stone. The dwarf collapsed onto his knees as Jongdae hovered above him, pressing as close to the structure as was physically possible. Just then, a gust of warmth blew over their heads, fire shooting from the mouth of the dragon though the wall protected them. Its screech punctured their eardrums with a thundering, head-splintering sound. Jongdae swore he could feel it reverberating through his heart and throughout his entire body.

"So, not Yixing... I hope," he said.

"Still w-way t-too close," Chanyeol mumbled. Even that warrior's voice warbled in fear.

They heard barking from farther away.

"Follow Alistair!" Jongin shouted. "He's seeking out the quickest path!" They repeated this order down the line, then waited for the all-clear to move again. Like ants they jolted one by one and began to run. Jongdae spared one glance heavenwards at the two dragons careering high in the air.

"Why isn't the drake following us?" Tao called out.

"Won't leave the eggs, probably," said Minseok.

But it certainly wasn't going to let them return to the cavern and seek shelter inside.

High above their heads, the two dragons battled. One, blood red and onyx scales, the other... blue-green. Yixing shined like the Waking Sea upon Jongdae's last crossing. He never thought to see such colors in the air. It was pretty. Someone should turn this into a painting. No one, however, should ever have to see it happening in real life.

"You knew," he repeated loudly to Suho.

The dwarf shrugged. They were panting so hard, following in the mabari's wake as they wended their way down, left and to the right, down a stair, then a jump.

"Who else knew?!" Jongdae was obsessed. They had a pile-up at one particularly difficult drop. Jongin and Baekhyun lowered themselves over the ruined stone first, then waited for Sehun to lower his legs down. Suho went next, and while they waited, everyone else's eyes went to the sky.  

"They're going to kill each other," said Tao with gritted teeth. The two dragons raced, sometimes side by side, usually one in front of the other as they shot gusts of flames forward or behind.

"Flames won't hurt them. They're both immune," Minseok shouted down. By the time he and Luhan scuffled down the edge, Jongdae looked up to see the blue-green dragon trailing behind, its great teeth gnashing at the red's spiked tail. Yixing missed, and the red dragon dived suddenly towards the ground. Its eyes caught the light of the sun as it sank, giving up another blood-curdling roar. Jongdae saw it as if in slow motion. The dragon scanned the ruins, then spotted them.

"Run!" They all yelled again.

More and more, the distance between them grew. Jongdae and Baekhyun were practically flying, Sehun still caught in their midst. Jongdae raced to keep up, but he also wasn't going to let Suho fall behind. The dwarf stumbled once and screamed. Down the side the mountain the first dragon careened into the valley below. The draft of its flight was so powerful they nearly all fell to the side. Yixing flew after it, and their bodies crashed together into the side of the mountain. The tumultuous landing had the entire ruin shaking. More stone and rocks skidded from their settings. The tower they'd sheltered under several meters above finally crashed to the ground.

"Get up! Come on!" Jongdae grabbed Suho's wrist and pulled the panicked dwarf to his feet. Chanyeol passed them up, faster still even with the injured Kyungsoo thrown over his shoulder. As Jongdae and the dwarf started to run again, he glanced behind. Kris was struggling badly, and now even Tao now was limping. Blood ran from his knee where fallen rubble had struck him. The two continued to move though with Luhan and Minseok's assistance.

"This is madness," Suho whispered, loud enough that only Jongdae heard. "We're not going-"

"Don't say that. Just keep going."

They passed another ledge, a corner rampart with a set of stairs which doubled underneath the fort. A squat, hollow tunnel, a temporary shelter if any, but even that might collapse at any second. Chanyeol panted in the shadows at the base of the steps. He set Kyungsoo on the bottom stair, and Sehun immediately rushed to his side. The dragons had taken flight again, each hovering in the air, almost stationary as they sized up the other, looking for weaknesses. Yixing was definitely smaller, but his dragon body was slimmer, more agile. The red dragon snapped its teeth at Yixing's neck at the same time Yixing fluttered away and out of reach.

"Are we just going to hang out here?!" Jongdae asked.

Jongin held his hand in the air, the signal to wait. "Look. He's luring it away..."

Lunge by lunge, Yixing's great dragon wings propelled him backwards, four monstrous clawed legs protecting his belly. The light caught through his wings, shades of teal that were almost iridescent. By contrast, the red dragon gleamed like blood flowing from its body. It struck forward, Yixing launched back. The power of their wings shot out gusts of wind that stank like stale earth and decay.

"Please tell me that's not the same dragon..." said Jongdae suddenly.

"What?!" cried Baekhyun.

"The dragon that attacked us at the manor! It had the same colors. It was the same dragon!"

"The red or the green?" asked Jongin.

"The green one! It was Yixing, wasn't it! Minseok, tell us it wasn't Yixing!"

Kris nearly collapsed against Jongdae's back. "It... he... was the same one?"

"Minseok?!" Jongdae demanded again.

They all stared at the mage who looked back staunchly but without comment. Somehow, that answered their question even more certainly than if he'd spoken. Luhan looked upset. "That was him?! But that dragon nearly killed us! _Us, you and me!_ We nearly died when it blazed that tree which fell and nearly crushed us!"

Suho was the one to contradict him. "No, it didn't. It was an accident, and you weren't exactly paying a lot of attention. Did you not notice that the only people who went up in flames that day were our attackers!?"

"But-" Luhan stuttered, unsatisfied.

Neither was Baekhyun. "Well good for you, you weren't blown to ashes, but we were in the house when it caught on fire and-"

"Those were the cult members who set it on fire, not the dragon!" Minseok cut in. "Now, look out!"

The ruin was still crumbling all around their heads. So far the inner stairwell was holding up, but small rocks fell loose from the ceiling, and the whole place grew unsteadier by the second.

Outside of the protective overhang lay a long strip of stone masonry. At the end of that, a very long, slightly arched bridge connected two particularly misshapen ridges that jutted out of the mountain, dissecting the ruined fort down the middle. The whole path was out in the open. To attempt to cross it now with the dragons this close was suicide, but to stay here wasn't ideal either. Only Alistair waited at the other end, and even he whimpered in the shadow of a wall, a mere pinprick from this far away.

And still the dragons taunted their mighty power before the other. The red dragon's back was to them now. Yixing presumably could see their hiding spot as he presented his body for attack and then thrusted away. The red dragon screeched, aggravated by his game. One of its wings beat down with a mighty gust, clipping the rail of the bridge with a thunderous crack.

Yixing waited no longer. His wings shot suddenly downwards as he rocketed into the air. It startled the red dragon who followed it a moment later but was slow to notice the change of direction. While Jongin shouted for everyone to run, Yixing turned his massive body and dove towards the valley below.

It was now or never.

 

 

 

 

Sehun's wrist seriously ached. Of all the things he could be complaining about it—shoulder ache, tired feet, the rock that had bruised his waist, and the over-beating rhythm of his heart, the fact they were being chased by a dragon, two dragons—it was his wrist which annoyed Sehun the most.

"Let go..." he whined, though his voice went unheard. Baekhyun had an incredible grasp. The elf, for being a whole foot shorter than Sehun, was powerfully strong in his upper body, and had rigid control of where Sehun could go or not. Right now, it was across the ledge as they raced for the bridge. Sehun could barely breath. His lungs felt like they might explode, and his heart was still a half dozen bodies behind them with Kyungsoo's barely moving form. Surely they didn't have to go so fast. They could have stayed, they could have rested. They could at least make sure the man wasn't about to die, or else, dead already from the way Chanyeol carried him.

The stone danced beneath their feet. Baekhyun stumbled, which meant Sehun stumbled as well, but Jongin was right there to pull them along. "The bridge! Hurry!"

Sehun didn't bother looking for the dragons. Yixing would save them, or he would not. Their priority was that bridge, because that's what Jongin, and thus Baekhyun, said.

"I can't!" he cried.

"You can!" shouted Baekhyun. The bridge rumbled again, but this time they stayed on their feet. Sehun looked right, at the gap between the two halves of the fort, where a waterfall they'd yet to notice fell angrily down into the mists below. "Almost there, keep up!"

Chanyeol cried out behind them and stumbled to the ground. Behind him, and Sehun didn't look but he heard it, Jongdae and Suho stopped and pulled the man up to his feet.

The barrier to their left suddenly fell away, small pebbles and rubble eroding into the wind and apart of the pavement too. Sehun screamed. He closed his eyes, but his body was yanked forward, Baekhyun's fingers still fastened tight around his wrist. He would have bruises, Sehun knew. Worse than the grayish marks Kyungsoo made when his skin touched another's flesh. And Sehun knew now which he preferred.

"This thing's going to collapse!" someone yelled from behind, Jongdae most likely.

The rest of the barrier crumbled away, evenly timed to their running pace, although neither Jongin nor Baekhyun would stop.

Chanyeol grunted again. This time Sehun swung his body around, whipped in opposition by Baekhyun's force, but he had to stop. He had to check. Chanyeol was on his knees. He'd dropped Kyungsoo to the ground, blood soiling both of their clothes and the warrior's armor.

"Kyungsoo!" Sehun screamed. The man's pallor had gone deathly white, and his eyes were closed. He was dead, he was probably dead, and Sehun never had a chance to say goodbye.

"I can't carry him!" Chanyeol panted. His other shoulder was bruised, and blood seeped down from a cut on his head.

"Noo!" Sehun shouted. He tried to wrest his arm loose from Baekhyun, but the elf would not let go. "Kyungsoo!"

Jongdae paused by the two fallen men and cursed loudly, his eyes scanning the distance for the dragons, then making eye contact with Sehun for one brief moment.

"Pleaseeeee...." Sehun cried, silently, before he was jolted back forward.

"Maker's bollocks! Move you big lump, I'll take him!" the assassin shouted loudly.

Sehun felt a brief wave of relief. Before the bridge gave a lurch and began to fall. He hit his knees again, looked down, and saw the valley beneath. The waterfall was long, a drop so far down into the mists that for a moment, it almost looked like a nice way to go. You'd never even see the bottom. You'd never see it coming...

Then Baekhyun gave a bone-breaking tug and practically forced him to make the jump. They landed with a wobbling steps. For the first time in ages, Sehun's arms were free. But then the bridge jolted again, and Sehun forgot how pretty the mists might be. He landed face first against the stone and scrambled frantically, his life completely in danger. A body dropped beside him, Chanyeol's post jump, and the two of them grunted as they struggled. Then Jongin reached down and pulled Chanyeol to safety, and Baekhyun did the same for Sehun.

"Come on! Hurry!" came the shouts from behind.

Yet the bridge continued to creak, and angle upwards. Sehun stood up and immediately lost his balance again. He landed on his butt and scooted backwards, thus he saw everything that happened from then after.

The gap between them was barely the length of a man laying down, and crumbling slowly. There was time. There was surely time for all of them to make it across. If Jongdae had jumped, he would have easily made the landing. But he wrestled there on the edge with Kyungsoo's weight leaning against his small frame and he panicked. So did Suho beside him.

"Jump! You can do it!" It was the first time Sehun had ever yelled such encouragements himself.

Behind the trio lumbered Kris and Tao, and Luhan and Minseok.

The ledge under Sehun's feet wobbled but held. It might not be that way for long.

"Hurry!" he yelled again. "Jongin, help them!"

"I need a running start!" Jongdae cried out. "But I can't! Not with-"

"Just do it!"

Tao immediately backed away from the ledge, preparing to make the crossing at a leap. Minseok also pulled Luhan and began shouting about doing the same. But the bridge continued to wobble, and more stones fell away from the edge. The gap was increasing, little by little, wider and wider.

"Jongin, do something!" Sehun grabbed the warrior's arm and began to cry. There was a plank just behind them. Alistair crouched beside it barking wildly, and it was just about the right size to place over the crevice. Those who couldn't jump could hobble across that way. Sehun lept towards it. "Look!" he yelled.

Jongin did look. And he took a step towards it. So did Chanyeol. But then each of them stopped. The two warriors looked at each other, meanwhile slowly... Baekhyun's palm wrapped around Sehun's wrist again.

"It's too late!" Jongin shouted, and deliberately turned his back on the gap. The bridge shuddered again. More rocks, larger chunks of stone now, crumbled and disappeared into the mists. If anyone landed on that patch of bridge, it might be the last thing they ever did. It might be the last thing any of them ever saw, including Sehun. The section on which they stood hung precariously itself. Somewhere in this, there was logic, but Sehun refused to see it. He kept focusing on the plank, which might still be long enough to help.

"Wait! We can't!" Sehun shrieked, tears straining his eyes, Baekhyun tugging him along. The path leveled out onto solid ground, dirt mixed with rocks as it skirted below the other side of he ruin, leading northward into the valley below. "We can't! We can't!!" He raged and pulled as hard as he could, but neither Jongin, Baekhyun nor Chanyeol would listen to his pleas. Only Alistair, licking his hand as he trotted beside them gave him any sympathy at all. The last he saw of the others, they remained like statues on the other side of the divide. Stranded, and helpless in a crumbling ruin. The dragons screeched from a long way off, but Sehun just cried, and stumbled, and dragged. And cried.

  
  
  
  


It was silence on the other side. Shock, most fittingly, followed by a stunned despair. Tao cautiously approached the ledge, a small pebble in his hand which he tossed as daintily as he could towards the opposite side. Even that small projectile caused a landslide of masonwork. The remaining bridge wobbled more and more.

"We have to go back," said Minseok, his voice small and strangled.

"Go back where?" asked Luhan.

There was an urgency to their situation, yet none of them bothered to voice it. Instead, they backed away one by one away from the falling ledge. Jongdae dragged Kyungsoo until he couldn't any longer, then Tao stepped in to help him with his burden. The man's eyes wavered open for half a second, then they closed again and he moaned.

"We have to find a way across!" Jongdae suddenly shouted. He was angry. Luhan had never seen him quite this angry. Yes, they had just been abandoned, but in Jongin's possible defense... it wasn't exactly safe, for any of them, to have tried to cross.

"There's no way!" Minseok shouted. The other's outburst had finally torn up his emotions. "This bridge is falling. We can't remain here, and we can't get across."

"Then you go back. I'm going forward."

"How!?" Minseok raged, confused.

Suho tugged at Jongdae's arm, begging the man to be sensible.

"How?! I don't know. I'll figure find a way. I'll get across. You can all go on your merry way and-"

Suho turned pale and dropped the assassin's arm. Jongdae finally realized the jist of what he'd said and shut up. "I mean..."

"We're not talking here," said Minseok. He turned and lead the retreat back to the steps under the hollowed tunnel which still miraculously stood. It was as safe as any place they could be right now. The two dragons were nowhere to be seen. Maybe they had flown off. Maybe one of them had died. Maybe they were even now flying back to cause more mayhem.

"We'll find another way down. That can't have been the only way," said Luhan hopefully. He glanced towards the ledge, then behind them. They'd been moving so quickly, any number of possible options might have been missed. And now that they weren't being beaten down by dragon fire, there was time to consider. A cool, even dust had settled over the ruin. Everything the dragons had kicked up with their beating wings now fell back to the earth. The newly strewn rubble rolled and slid until it couldn't anymore. If they hadn't just witnessed the last half hour's events, Luhan might have said this place was untouched for centuries.

"I can't believe it. I can't believe it," Jongdae muttered to himself. "Of all the things... I had one task. One... cursed... task."

Suho stared down at him pityingly and then walked right by him. He knelt instead by Kyungsoo's side and fit a hand to the man's dirtied brow. So did Minseok, although he continued to stare at Jongdae.

"I can't believe it either," said Kris with a pained rumble. But he, unlike Jongdae, chuckled. "I was hired by them, and then they left me in the middle of a falling ruin. Nice fellows. Why ever did you agree to travel with them again?"

Jongdae huffed. "It's not the same! You're a mercenary! Anything could happen and it wouldn't matter. But me..." His voice trailed off.

Luhan sat beside Minseok and looked over the mage's shoulder. He couldn't fathom Jongdae's fury, and he didn't want to. It seemed ridiculous under these circumstances. "How is he?" he asked of Kyungsoo.

Minseok sighed. "Alive. But barely. He needs rest. Then I might be able to properly heal him."

The man's small eyes rolled open again. Luhan watched them dilate and try to focus. His moved his head around, to which Suho quickly shushed him and bade him remain still.

"Wha...t happened?" he asked, struggling to make even the tiniest fraction of a sound.

No one bothered to answer him. Instead, Kyungsoo clenched his eyes tight shut and groaned. The next words out of his mouth were, "Sehun..." as if he already knew.

At the sound of the boy's name, Jongdae gave a sudden scoff. Then he laughed. Then he continued to laugh until everyone, Suho included, decided he must be mad.

"Jongdae?" Minseok raised his eyebrows and looked squarely at the man.

Jongdae laughed again. Finally though, he sighed and looked wistfully across the ruined, fallen bridge. "Sehun. He was my one task."

Kris's jaw slowly dropped, and all the other heads turned slowly to face the assassin.

"W-what, do you mean?" It was Suho who actually asked. "Were you here all this time because of Sehun? You were here to kill him-?"

"No!" Jongdae cried. He buried his head between his hands, elbows perched on his knees. "Kill him? Wow that's an idea. If that had been my job, then I would have been done by now and long gone off into the sunset. No... I was hired to protect him. From anyone, and anything. I've been following him since Denerim. I caught up with you guys on the road because it seemed easier that way. I was supposed to go all the way to West Hills and remain there. If it looked like a brother wanted him dead, I'd slit that brother's throat in the night. If another relative, then that one too. But then we never got there... We ended up here. And now I've lost him... His mother... is going to have me murdered next, now, I just know it. Because I failed to protect her little boy..."


	37. Interlude: Nighttime

Chanyeol was totally shivering, now that the adrenalin had worn off from their flight down the mountainside. The two dragons had disappeared, their friends were left behind in the dust, almost literally. Jongin wore a steely grin and Baekhyun was uncharacteristically silent. Sehun walked behind them with a murderous, sullen expression. Alistair trailed along with his jaw shut tight, nose in the air as if scenting how much farther they travelled from his master.

Silently, so as not to intrude upon everyone's bad moods, Chanyeol counted a tally of all the supplies they would now be low on. Each of them carried packs with individual food rations, but no cookware. They had a few blankets and sleeping pallets to go, but only two winter coats. Baekhyun wore one of them now and Sehun the other. Winter had been creeping upon them as early as their trip up to Gherlen's Pass. After spending so much time in Orzammar and the Deep Roads after that, the thought of cold weather became fleeting. Now, however, they were experiencing it in full for it had arrived early on the western side of the Frostbacks. This was Orlais they traversed now. Over half their number were left behind, and with them, over half the supplies Chanyeol had calculated necessary for them to get to their next destination, wherever that was, only Jongin knew. 

"I'm hungry."

It was the first phrase Sehun had uttered in hours. Chanyeol didn't dare respond. He waited for Jongin, and indeed the warrior informed the boy, "Wait until we find shelter. Night's approaching."

Sehun said no more, but Chanyeol caught Baekhyun giving the boy a pitying look. It was getting harder and harder to forget how they'd intentionally sacrificed the others in order to get away. Were they still trapped up on the ruin? Were they able to find another way down? More importantly, were they able to do that before one of the dragons returned, the one not named Yixing?

But this was all going according to Jongin's plan. Ditch the others, save themselves. Safer this way, without the burden of the others' woes hounding them wherever they went. Still though, Chanyeol didn't think Sehun would ever forgive them. Chanyeol barely forgave himself.

By dusk on the first day, a light snow began to fall. 

"Baekhyun," said Jongin.

"Time to find a spot, I got it," said the elf with gladness. 

Their resting place became a small enclosure beneath a rocky overhang. It wouldn't shelter them completely from the wind, but it was mercifully dry underneath. Chanyeol lit a small fire while Baekhyun rustled through their packs. Jongin set up their pallets as close to the rock as they could get. Alistair disappeared for a while but he came back sporting his own supper, a small dead fennec with half its head already torn off.

"At least we know Alistair will eat well tonight," Sehun remarked. "Who knows what the others are eating. If they're even alive to eat-"

"Sehun, please," interrupted Jongin with a sigh. 

Sehun smiled wryly in return. "Please what? Please stop wondering what happened back there after we left? Am I supposed to forget it already? That we ran away with our tails between our legs, fleeing like cowards, while they could have been stranded, left to be eaten? Kyungsoo might already have been dead, but I'll never know! We'll never know-"

"Sehun!" Jongin shouted again. He didn't look at the boy, but his voice held command nevertheless. "Look, I'm sorry! I'm sorry we had to leave like that, but there was nothing we could have done differently. That bridge wasn't going to hold and you know it."

"But our friends-"

"Will have found another way down, I'm sure of it. Sehun, I... I liked them too but we did what we had to, and that's... that's something I will never be able to forget for as long as I live, so just..." Jongin's voice faded to nothing, and he sighed again, softer this time. He ran a hand across his brow and stared at his feet. Baekhyun chewed on his lower lip and stared between the two men, but he didn't interfere. 

To be honest, not that Chanyeol would agree with this aloud, but this was almost how it should have been anyways: Jongin, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun escorting Sehun across the continent with no one interfering. The fact that they now had a giant mabari hound who belonged to an apostate mage was just the trimming on the package. Sure, they should have reached their original destination by now, but after all that happened this _was_ the safer option. 

So why did everyone, including himself, feel so glum?

Sehun sighed and slumped up against the rock. At first he crossed his arms, but at a consolation lick from Alistair he unfolded them, pet the hound, and then remained with his arms dangling down by his side. 

"Get some rest, Sehun," said Baekhyun softly. "We'll take care of dinner."

The elf turned towards the fire where Chanyeol knelt, Jongin joining them a moment later. But not even a minute after that, Sehun crouched beside them.

"I can help too, no need to fuss over me." 

"You sure?" asked Baekhyun. Sehun nodded. 

They said no more about the events of the day, or their lost friends. As darkness fell and Sehun fell asleep beside the hound, Jongin lead Chanyeol and Baekhyun away from the small fire out into the snow which was still falling lightly, an ominous sign of the upcoming winter. 

"Alright," started Jongin, "let's talk plans."

"All I know," said Baekhyun," is that you have me leading us southwest, at least as far southwest we can go with the river in our way. Is that where we're headed? Jongin, I'm going to need you to trust us and tell us exactly where Lady Hyori's estate is, else we can happily wander this entire winter without a solid direction to go to."

After a few moments' deliberation, Jongin finally told them. Not the exact location, but the immediate region surrounding it. It almost stung, Chanyeol thought, that after all this time he seemed to trust them so little. Chanyeol was born on the estate with Sehun with barely a few years between them. He had sworn an oath of allegiance to his lord, Sehun's grandfather, and served them well. Handpicked from all the other warriors on the estate to make this journey, and here was a man who, short of recent events, had been a stranger to them all. And yet he was their leader. Chanyeol knew from watching Jongin every night that the shield warrior stressed himself to sleep worrying about their safety, that his every action was devoted to keeping Sehun safe. But safe from what? And for how long? Supposedly Baekhyun had read the letter Jongin received in Redcliffe Tavern warning them away from the bog fever, but Chanyeol hadn't seen it. How could he truly know then what was inside. Who was this Jongin, and why did he trust the orders he evidently received when everything prior to that had seemed so simple?

"The southern Dales, huh?" mused Baekhyun. 

"Have you been there?" asked Chanyeol. The elf had a strange look about his face, once that spoke of his desire not to be present in that part of the world. 

"Hmm?" It took Baekhyun a second to respond. When he did, it was said reluctantly, with clenched jaw and a curt nod. "Yes, a few times actually." Then he drove right through his misgivings. "By my calculations based on our current topiary, I'd say we're little less than a week away. Several days if we had mounts, but on foot and in this snow... a week, pending nothing crazy happens like a freak blizzard or a giant bear. Or another dragon, in which case we may not make it _anywhere_ and thus this conversation is moot." The elf laughed. Chanyeol ignored him.

"We don't have supplies for a week," Chanyeol interjected. 

Jongin frowned. "I was worried about that."

"Best option," Chanyeol continued, "is to find a settlement, human village, an elven camp, anything really to tie us over-"

"E-elves?!" Baekhyun suddenly tittered. "You want to find _elves_ , whatever for?" 

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at the  _elf_. "As I said... anyone we run into who can help us would be good. And to my knowledge, Dalish elves may not be the most hospitable people to outsiders, but they wouldn't they turn us away, would they?"

"You speak like you know them. Do you?" 

"No, but..."

"Then you don't know them. Sure, they might not stick us with arrows, but really... let's just keep our sights on human civilization, hm?"

"And risk being spied upon by Sehun's enemies who could be hiding in their midsts?" said Jongin.

A cold air, colder than the weather, seemed to hover over them now. Baekhyun bit his lip and turned away, momentarily silenced, his hands on his small hips. Chanyeol stared at him for a second, then turned his sights towards Jongin. The two warriors exchanged an incredulous look but did not speak. _Why on earth was Baekhyun so afraid of running into his own kind?_ was the question they shared. 

Finally, Jongin said, "Fine. We can talk about it more, depending on where we end up. For now, let's get some sleep. Since we have a least another week to go."

 

 

 

 

Not much farther to the south, another party laid down to rest. 

They were a ragtag group, even more so than before. Luhan stood above the group, surveying with gloom their tired state. Most sported even more bruises, skinned flesh, and dirt than before they had attacked the drakes, or been attacked by the dragon. Kyungsoo was still in the worst state, but after spending half a day scaling the ruin, which due to lack of proper descent meant a lot of sliding, skidding, and quite a few rope drops, everyone looked to be in bad shape. They barely made it down by afternoon, sweat pouring from their brows in spite of the cold weather, before the snow began to fall. Shelter was even more important now, and the Avaar ruin provided little protection from the northern wind blowing down the side of the mountain. 

After refilling their kegs in the frigid river just to the north, they set off for the forest. Lone pines gave way to a thicker patch of trees but they could find no shelter. 

"Do you think they're much farther away?" Luhan asked Minseok from under under their makeshift tent. They'd strung a few blankets between the tree trunks and everyone huddled underneath. In the middle was Kyungsoo, being tended to by Suho on one end and Minseok on the other. Jongdae and Tao made up one end of their bundle, Luhan and Kris the other. 

"Who?" asked Minseok, sleepy-eyed. "Sehun and them? Probably not that far. North of the river though, to be sure."  The collapsed ruin bridge spanning the waterfall was possibly the way across for several leagues. "Why?" continued Minseok.

Luhan hummed and turned onto his side, his freezing hands finding their way around and between Minseok's snug arm. The mage turned his head to look at him. 

"Hm? I don't know," said Luhan. "Just that nobody talked much about it today, but... what are we supposed to do now? We were semi-following Jongin. Now we're just here, on our own."

Minseok said nothing to that. His eyes closed again, but Luhan guessed the mage was far from falling asleep. Nearly a minute later, Minseok softly murmured, "Is it so scary, to not have a plan?"

A plan... Luhan had to think about it. All his life he'd had a plan, or at least one made up for him by someone else. It was getting harder and harder to realize that for some things in life, there just wasn't a plan. Even the path he'd chosen to take in recent weeks had been something he made up himself. And all that had accomplished was for them to be here, stranded on the other side of the Frostback mountains. Luhan was far from his templar cohorts now. He'd strayed so far beyond where he'd set out to go, in effect abandoning his Order, and his life's obligation. Could a templar though actually become something else? Could he sever those ties completely and live a different way? Or would he, like a mage fleeing from the Circle, also be labeled an apostate, a traitor. A coward. Did Luhan actually have the guts to do that?

"You forget, Minseok," he said softly, "that you are used to this kind of life." 

Freedom was something Luhan had never had, nor was he likely to get it. Unless he grasped for it himself. 

In the darkness of the night, Luhan could barely see Minseok's half-open eyes. The mage's lips opened, as if he had something to say. But then he shut them. Instead, the mage turned to face him as well and a calloused rough hand came up to stroke Luhan's cheek. 

"How much do you trust me, Luhan? Because I do still, have something of a plan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me for this short chapter! It's my tentative return to this story after not writing it for so long, plus I left all the characters in such a bind after the last chapter that I needed everyone to sit down and think about life lol. Never fear, we'll get this plot moving along soon. So many secrets have been revealed, and so many plots have come unraveled, but Minseok still has a plan!!! Now then: what is it? ;)


	38. Matters of Trust

When Yixing awoke, as he inevitably did with sweat-slicked hair, muscles aching, and gashes across both legs and his shoulder blade, he was disoriented. But only for a moment. He shook his head and lifted himself from the cold, matted ground. The spot where he lay was marked as by a beast ten times his regular size. There were scorch marks along one end, and the scent of decay from flesh wounds and blood splatter hung cloyingly in the air. Several trees had not survived Yixing's descent either. Their upturned roots and shattered bark lay across the ground, knocking over a few more trees on their way down. All in all, it wasn't a bad landing. Not Yixing's best, but certainly not his worst. And he had at least the satisfaction that the other dragon had crashed down farther to the north in a much worse shape than he.

It hurt, sometimes, to be the arbiter of such a beautiful creature's death, one whose existence he had the privilege to share and experience. Nevertheless, he had done what he must.

Yixing hobbled slowly out of the open, hissing as he went. A soft inspection of his shoulder showed fresh blood still oozing from the wound. He sniffed the air, taking measure of where he might be and setting that against what he remembered before last going down. South of the river, farther to the west. Not an ideal location in his current state, not if he wanted to make it back to the party. He was alone, on foot, and naked. At least he could heal, although his body, always weak after such a transformation, would take awhile to recuperate. His best bet would be to find a human settlement and either steal or obtain by pity some supplies to get him through the next few days.

A soft snow had begun to fall. The flakes melted against his overheated skin, but he would not be immune to the cold forever.

He walked barefoot in an easterly direction for hours. He passed a small shack laid bare to the elements and, guessing it was somebody's summer hunting cabin, helped himself to a few things. Armed with some clothes and a sack of dried fruits and meat, he marched on.

Barely an hour after this, he felt a strange presence.

Yixing was being followed, and it felt so funny that he already knew by whom.

Rather than let the merry, leisurely chase last any longer, he stopped at the nearest fallen log and sat himself down to wait. Chuckling, he put one ankle over the other knee and siphoned through his small bag of food for something to chew on. The steps of the follower crunched closer in the snow. Yixing's footsteps would be easy to trail, but he knew this stranger could have done that without them.

"How curious," he said when the figure stood before him, "that I see you in person, after all this time, right at this moment."

The stranger murmured mirthlessly. He did not speak.

"How did you find me?" continued Yixing.

This time, the man snorted. "Tales of two dragons fighting over the Dales? That's such an uncommon occurrence, it wouldn't take much deducing, to know you were one of them."

His voice was high, familiar and yet not. It was the voice of a boy Yixing had partially raised, turned man who was a stranger and his enemy. Yixing raised his head and leered across the snowy path.

"Come to care for me in my injuries? Or perhaps you're here to help put me down? I hear dragon hunting is all the rage now in Orlais, not that many brave, foolish adventurers actually live so long to write songs about it. You on the other hand, you have some skill, surely."

"I can carry a tune, if that's what you mean to imply?"

The man chuckled. Yixing went back to rustling through his bag and choosing another delectable morsel to chew on, he ignored his enemy where he sat down on the log, legs astride with some distance between them.

"You must know, Yixing, what I've come to ask you."

Without looking up, Yixing replied, "I do, and I have no answers for you."

Humorlessly, the man sighed. "You should know me better than that. I can tell when you're lying."

"Then you should also be able to tell when I mean what I say. Go away, Xiumin. This venture has nothing to do with you."

Leveling his head, Yixing stared the man he hadn't seen in the flesh for almost ten years. Whether those years had been kind of harsh to Xiumin, he couldn't tell. The mage was skilled at sorcery, at illusions. His skin was as smooth as when he was a boy, when Yixing had held him on his lap and spoke to him about magic. Xiumin had been his best pupil, better than his older brothers, better too than his younger brother Minseok. Yixing had recognized in him that spark of ambition, and he'd nurtured it, coddled Xiumin, persuaded himself that under great tutelage Xiumin would harness it for good.

"Now, now, Yixing. We both know you're too old and wise to think I could turn the other cheek right now," said the man. "Not when there's _so much to gain_."

"You don't even know what you're getting into," said Yixing. Gone was his casual conversation. His voice now was stone cold and threatening. Xiumin ignored both.

"I know about the well and I know they carry the key, Yixing. It would be kinder on them if you let me in on this, before someone gets hurt."

"As if you care about that," Yixing snapped.

"Are you saying I don't care about the life of my brother?" Xiumin mimicked offense, but there was a sneer across his face that belied it. "I only wanted him to stay out of my way. It was his own fault for trying to scour for my whereabouts."

"So you sent a troop of templars to take him down?" Yixing raised an eyebrow.

Xiumin scoffed. "Templars are so finicky, sending one measly soldier. It's no wonder apostates have been running circles around that Order for centuries. Never trust a templar. Never trust a mage. The world would be a much more defined place if everyone just came to their senses and realized that. Not that I care for order."

"Not that you care about the world either," said Yixing. "The only thing you care about is you, and the rest of us be damned. Is that why you killed your family? Were they in the way? Were they hindering your progress as the foremost maleficar in Thedas?"

A flash of anger passed through Xiumin's eyes, then stayed there to burn. Yixing had expected such a reaction. He expected even for Xiumin to combust and fight him right there with either words or magic. Instead, to his surprise, Xiumin said nothing until his face resumed an air of calmness. The wind caught at his hair. He looked for a moment like his younger, kinder self. In fact, he looked like Minseok. The resemblance between the two of them was eerily disturbing. Two gifted mages, the pride of Yixing's tutelage, and yet they'd turned out so differently. If only Yixing had seen it and not blinded himself, not just to Xiumin's strange morbid inclinations, but to Yixing's own ego. He'd fully believed he was training the brightest of the next generation of sorcerers, cultivating a legacy that would at least live out beyond his expectations.

In that, it turned out he was correct. Xiumin surpassed everything Yixing had hoped for. And then some.

"You'll always blame me for that... _accident_ , won't you?" joked Xiumin, a scathing, acid tone beneath his smile.

"You may call it that," said Yixing, "but we all know it was an accident that might have been prevented."

"Preventable indeed, maybe if you'd only shared all your knowledge with me like I asked."

Yixing still remembered that chilling day. Had he stayed and given in to Xiumin's whims, he might have been there to stop the experiment going awry. Then again, if he had not taken a gangly, teenage Minseok with him on an excursion, then that boy too might have died along with this parents and siblings.

By the time he returned there was nothing left of the house except for their charred remains, fires burning still in all corners. The planks of the roof had fallen down, the whole valley smelled like death and the sinister aftertaste of foul magic. Xiumin's body was the only one not accounted for, and Yixing knew at that very moment that his trust in the boy had been misplaced.

"Why do you never age, Yixing?" asked Xiumin, interrupting his memories.

"Age?" asked Yixing innocently. "What is age anyways? Is that what you're after then? Immortality? Surely even you must know that such a thing does not, cannot exist."

"Not infinitely, to be sure," mused Xiumin. "Of course... maybe if I-"

"No."

Xiumin sighed, and once again he took on the appearance of the boy Yixing had known and doted on. He reclined backwards on the log with his hands supporting him, legs still astride and bouncing gently. Yixing wondered how many men and women Xiumin had come to fool in recent years. Did he have a following? A coven of mages like him? He must have made some powerful allies at least, if their time in Orzammar had been anything to tell by: dwarven lordlings, perhaps human princes, or rogue elves long grown immune to the sway of their clans. The art of magic was largely guarded in all parts of Thedas, not just by the Chantry and their lock-up of all mages. Dalish clans also protected their secrets, as well as their young mages by limiting the number of practitioners per clan and keeping great oversight. And while apostate families mostly ran free, few mages were technically alone for the entirety of their lives.

The wind shifted sending another cool blast of snow sideways across the path. Yixing brushed some of the melting snowflakes off his face and dusted more from his hair. He flexed his shoulder blades, happy to feel that they were back to their proper shape and no longer aching. If Xiumin intended to fight him...

"You know where it is, Yixing. I know it."

"I don't," Yixing repeated.

"And if you did," scoffed Xiumin, "you wouldn't tell me?"

"My dear lad, as I've said before, I have no idea where this place you speak of may lie. I am barely even familiar with the legend, and trust me, Xiumin, it is a legend indeed. Unproven, unfounded, its whereabouts totally unknown."

Only part of what he said was a lie. Xiumin seemed to have guessed this already.

"So you won't tell me..."

"Nope."

"Then I guess I'll have to try my luck elsewhere. You won't mind, surely. You're on your way to meet them again now, aren't you? Shall I tag along? See if anyone else is more willing to cough up their thoughts?"

Yixing grinned. Of all the people who could possibly know about this supposed, probably-never-existed mystical well in the first, Kyungsoo would be the last person to ever speak of it. And that's if he knew it at all. Who knew what secrets he possessed in the depths of his blackening mind. Somehow he had put together enough clues to find himself on the right track, but did he know the final destination? Had someone told him? Did he harbor knowledge even more impossible than the only route through the Deep Roads? One couldn't really tell. Whether he knew great wisdom or secrets, or only a glimmer of truth, he was still untrustworthy, and thus Yixing's main haste for returning to the party to keep an eye on the man. The dying were so often unpredictable...

"You're distracted, Yixing."

"Am I?" He spared a soft laugh and a smile.

"Yes, and that's worrisome for I don't think you quite understand the gravity of this situation."

"Is it so grave, Xiumin?"

The other mage's eyes narrowed menacingly like slits. A less elf than Yixing would not play so obviously with fire, but Yixing was no mere elf, and no mere mage. Even allowing for the intervening years since he had taught Xiumin, Yixing had centuries on the young mage, and power like few even knew. He smiled back at Xiumin, bravely inviting destruction he knew the other could never accomplish. Xiumin stared back, a contest of wills. That was all Xiumin would likely win, temporarily.

Finally, the mage snorted and looked away.

"Fine, then. Keep your secrets. But know that I still have other means at my disposal. You might be able to fend me off, but would the others be so strong? Would Minseok, if I threatened him enough? Would... Luhan?" Xiumin faked a yawn as Yixing sat up a little straighter. "A very nice, handsome templar, don't you think? Quite approachable actually, as I've already discovered."

He laughed, and Yixing did not interrupt him. His mind was instead turning, all the gears in his brain seeking Xiumin's intentions.

"You think that templar really, truly trusts Minseok? How long do you think that trust will last, when they yet hide things from each other?"

Yixing stood up and sneered at him. "Go," he said, making his voice as calm as he possibly could.

Xiumin's eyebrows went up.

"I said, go. Get out of here, scheme how you will, Xiumin, but never forget that I am watching you."

Then, pleasantly, Yixing turned on his heels and started to walk away. He heard nothing from behind him. Not a shift of the log, no footsteps either following him or walking away. Xiumin would let him have the last word, but Yixing was too cautious to think this was the last time they'd meet. No, Yixing had things to attend and people to see. And no doubt, Xiumin would find him again when it suited his own purposes. It was just up to Yixing now to see him fail.

 

 

 

 

Since daybreak, they had been on the move, Suho didn't know where. At this point, he wasn't even sure they had a destination at all other than Minseok- with Luhan hesitantly agreeing- declaring they should head southwest.

The snow had yet to stop falling. It was now piling upon the ground and for every hour they trudged through it, Suho hated it more. He'd spent most of his life underground, never having to worry about what fell from the sky, but here he was now trampling through snow that was up to his ankles, and in some places even more.

Jongdae walked beside him, small comfort that was now. To be sure, the assassin-turned-Sehun's guard never let Suho stumble in the snow. He was always there with a hand to the dwarf's elbow, encouraging him each step of the way. But nobody, not least Suho, could think of the man in the same way as he had before. It was hard to reorient yourself to the thought of Jongdae lying to them all this time. The only true wonder was that Suho had ever trusted a man like him who from the beginning had been at least somewhat honest about his profession. An assassin? Suho had come somehow to... like an assassin? Still, knowing more to the story now, it rankled. And Suho wasn't the only one to think so.

"You never told us," said Luhan one time, "about how you came to be Sehun's protector."

"I didn't?" Jongdae shrugged, smug smile lighting up his face. They were all stopped for a noonday snack.

"You didn't." The templar's glare wasn't as menacing as it might have been. Suho noticed, however, that Luhan had mellowed out quite a bit in recent weeks. At this point, it seemed like a friendly interrogation for no other reason than that everybody was bored and they had nothing else to talk about, except the obvious (which was how they were going to find Sehun and again and why Minseok thought they should even bother) which nobody mentioned outright.

Kris looked mildly interested in Jongdae's answer. Tao's ears were turned eagerly in their direction, as any source of talk or gossip piqued his curiosity. Minseok did not contribute, either verbally or by his expression, but Suho knew he would be listening attentively. The mage stood beside Kyungsoo, that strange tainted man that Suho for some reason, could not even begin to like or trust. He had grown stronger since Minseok set a series of healing spells over his body, but he moved too stiffly for a man his age, and while he rarely spoke now, he was always paying attention. His eyes, shadowed beneath his hood, looked to the ground, but his lips wrestled together under the bite of his teeth. Suho shivered and determined to ignore him. Jongdae, oblivious to all of this, laughed softly and began his short narrative.

"What's there to really tell? You all know I was a failed Crow assassin. Too many rules, too much ceremony. I've been a freelancer of some reknown for a couple years. The lady, Sehun's dear mother, sent men to hire me. I spoke with her briefly, and the rest you know."

When Minseok announced this morning that their continuing aim was to find and rejoin Sehun, Jongin and the others, Jongdae had been the first to smile in agreement. His enthusiasm had grown again since then.

"So you were just to remain anonymous forever?" asked Luhan.

Jongdae nodded and readjusted his carry pack. The movement caused the glint of Jongdae's twin daggers, flashing right in Suho's line of vision. It should have scared him, but it didn't. Jongdae, for all his secrets, had lead the charge to rescue him when he was captured by the Carta. And he'd been right there beside him ever since, sometimes teasing, sometimes mocking, but always in a friendly perhaps more than friendly tone. Confusing. If Suho had one word for the assassin, it would be that.

He turned to look how the others in their party accepted Jongdae's remark. Kris has a fowl expression on his mouth. Not for the first time, he opened it now to scowl and say, "Freelancer, huh? That's just a fancy name for another mercenary. A mercenary should follow a code just the same. Honesty, that's how you win your bread."

The two _mercenaries_  eyed each other, one warily, the only with laughter brimming in his eyes.

"Honest mercenaries? Tell me, Kris, are all mercenaries like you then? You've _never_ met a dishonest one? I find that hard to believe. Half the mercenaries in all Thedas just call themselves that to earn gold and are no different than a gang of thieves."

The qunari's lips brimmed in anger. "I have never acted like a thief!"

"Oh sure, you're a qunari. You have a code. But you say you left the Qun, which is your original code. Are you not by default now making up your own?"

To Suho, a qunari over three times his height was not someone he would ever want to annoy. To Jongdae, the qunari might seem like a giant, but he showed no sign of backing down. Instead, he outright laughed before turning his back as if Kris could hurt him more more than a fly.

The qunari made only the slightest lurch of movement before Minseok stepped up.

"Enough," he said, voice brimming with authority. "We have no time for these childish quarrels. Kris has a code, Jongdae has a mission. The rest of us have enough morals at least, I hope, to either get along peacefully until we find the others."

He spoke with wisdom, but Jongdae turned around and smirked all the same. "And then there's you, Minseok. What's your bone in this fight, or are you just so obliging that, knowing how much Kris and I are are contracted to fulfill our missions, you will take the lead in our glorious reunification? Perhaps you have your own motives? Or perhaps Kyungsoo does...?"

The dark-robed man made no motion to enter this verbal spar. He remained still even as Luhan prickled up, right on time to defend Minseok, Suho noted.

"This is stupid to be arguing. Winter is coming, we're trampling around in the wilderness in the snow. Can't we just, pick a plan of action and then stick with it?"

"A plan," interrupted Jongdae, "along the lines of 'Let's follow the mage no matter what he does?'"

In another time, in another place, somewhere along the roads of the past, that might have been an innocuous question. But here, now, Luhan's face turned red, not with embarrassment but with shame.

"You know, I'm starting to like this qunari," Jongdae continued. "For all his noble talk of codes, at least we know where he stands. And, if you can take my word for it, which I admit you've no cause to do so, but at the very least I have admitted the reason I want to keep on this path. So, there are two people here who have been honest about where they stand. But what about the rest of you? Minseok, you're a wanderer. Luhan, you could do whatever you liked. Tao, well he's just following along for the fun of it, I suppose. Suho has nowhere else to go because he's not going to take off solo without an armed band to travel with. But Kyungsoo... we all know, injured though you are," and here Jongdae's eyes narrowed, "we all know how very capable you are on your own." He let those words sink in a moment as everybody looked around their little circle verifying the truth of Jongdae's words. Then he continued. "Seems to me like there are people in our midst with unspoken quests and secrets we couldn't _dare to imagine_."

He leveled this accusation firmly in Minseok's direction, eyes darting to Kyungsoo, then back and forth again and again.

"What aren't you telling us, Minseok, huh? Huh?"

When the mage did not answer, the tension grew and Jongdae's eyes narrowed more. "You and Kyungsoo disappeared for days together. What were you plotting? Have you always been plotting something? Together? You knew your friend Yixing was a dragon, but nobody bothered to warn us. That's not some random magic any mage can drum up. That's old magic, deep magic, and dangerous."

Still the mage was silent, but Suho found he could not look at him. He averted his eyes and stared at the snowy ground. He too had known Yixing was a dragon. He had seem him shift above the meadow before Sehun, Jongin, Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo disappeared into the burning mansion. Suho had seen what Yixing was capable of, and yet he hadn't told.

Fear, that's how he justified it. Fear that Yixing, though he hadn't in fact burned them alive, might yet turn his deadly blaze on them, on Suho. Or on Jongdae. Jongdae was kindly not bringing it up again, but still Suho was rankled by guilt. He hadn't told anybody before Yixing had shifted again, and now he felt both petrified and also like he had to get it out. He had to admit it, the secret he had known.

Instead, it came out like this. "Luhan."

All eyes turned to him. He grew even more afraid, tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. The templar, most of all, looked confused. So he said his name again. "Luhan. H-he.... he knew too..."

"What?" asked a shocked Jongdae. Luhan's chin was slowly falling away from his jaw. Minseok stared at him, Kris looked at him in horror.

"Whhhat?" returned a shaky Luhan. But Suho had known. He'd known in the way Luhan hadn't reacted like the others in their panicked descent down the ruin. Instead he had the eyes of someone who had known already. They were the mirror of Suho's own. And Suho saw now in Minseok's shocked reaction, that it hadn't been Minseok who told him.

"How did _you_ know?" Jongdae immediately pushed.

"I-I saw him that day too."

"Saw Yixing? In the meadow?"

"Y-yes."

"I don't believe you," said the assassin. "I could believe that of Suho because ever since that day he has acted _terrified_  of Yixing. But you?"

Suho would not have believed him either. Luhan did not have the face of someone who could lie. His guilt was written plainly across his face. Suho expected Jongdae to press the issue, however it was Minseok who did it for him.

"How _did_ you know?" demanded the mage.

Again Luhan claimed he saw him, and again the others claimed he could not have known. But the more he spoke the more his words sounded like lies. "I knew! Okay, I just knew!" he croaked finally, face bright red in light of the interrogation. Jongdae's eyes glinted, Minseok's were wide open. And Suho saw between the templar and the mage the smallest trace of a crack.

Trust, it seemed, would not come to this party so easily.


	39. Gems of Power

The snowfall, which had given them a brief reprieve, began to fall again. Hours, that's how long it had been since Luhan was outed, and now it seemed that no one quite trusted his words. By the Maker, even Luhan wouldn't have believed himself, listening to himself stutter and... blatantly lie. He hung his head in deep shame, remembering Minseok's look of confusion followed by deep mistrust. In a deeper pit of the templar's mind, he almost relished in it. Minseok didn't believe his words? Well, how many times had Minseok lied to them?! Countless more times than anything Luhan had said or done. 

It was not the best line of mental reasoning, of course, but Luhan couldn't help thinking it. 

For now they were back on course. Minseok had been forced to share part of his plan, which as only Luhan- and probably Kyungsoo knew- was another lie. Even worse, Luhan was complicit in this one too. 

"Lady Hyori's estate," Luhan had said, all eyes turning to him while silently, Minseok egged him on. "I'm pretty sure I know where it is."

"What?!" Jongdae exclaimed.

"How? Where?" asked Kris with increasing suspicion.

Luhan tried to play up his part. "Something Jongin let slip once. When we were traveling. He mentioned a place in the Dales. I think... I think if we could find a human settlement at least, we could ask around and I'll be able to piece together where it is."

And so they marched, together, for lack of a better plan. Minseok promised there would be villages coming up soon. Jongdae only tacitly agreed. The assassin's usually smug, smiling face was a bit grim but after Suho's words had torn across the party, but that was to be expected wasn't it? Another irony, Luhan thought bitterly, that the man who had once lied about being a 'just a King's messenger', and then lied about his true mission to protect Sehun no matter the costs, would be so mistrustful of Luhan, whose only fault had been knowing Yixing was a shapeshifter. 

Luhan had of course conveniently failed to mention - again - how he'd known. It made for another night and another two days worth of interesting travel. He wondered if it was just their circumstances, but had they not been all bone weary, frozen and hungry, if they might not have stopped completely in their tracks and gotten everything out, cleared the air, argued until there was nothing left to argue. Alas, the act of survival in the midst of everyone's weary mood was the reign of the day. With almost minimal conversation except at mealtimes, together they lugged forward. 

By the time they came upon a small lodge two days later, it was barely dusk. 

"Look!" shouted Tao, "a light!"

There was indeed light up ahead, gleaming through the frosted window of what looked like a small home. Luhan, who'd been about to ask if they shouldn't stop and find shelter for the night, sighed in relief, as did the others. Their footsteps grew lighter in the snow, each hurrying towards the comfort of civilization. Upon closer inspection Luhan saw a handful more buildings, some darkened, some also lit up. Smoke curled out from several chimneys, and better than that: the smell of food. 

They passed a shed housing logging equipment, then another, then a small barn. Then they approached the largest building. The door swung open before they could get there and a large, portly man exited with a swagger, a flagon in his hand that smelled beautifully like ale. 

The man stopped up short when he perceived their presence. "Ho! Who goes there? Strangers?" Intoxicated though he was, his hand nevertheless flew to his belt strap. At the first glimmer of a dagger's hilt, everyone froze in his tracks. 

Jongdae was the first to speak. "We are friends!" he said, stepping forward with his arms up to indicate peace. 

"Friends?" the man echoed gruffly. "I know of no friends in these parts like you."

"We are travelers," Jongdae amended with a courteous smile. "And just a bit lost. Might we... if you could lend us the gift of hospitality, we will gladly repay you whatever you ask."

Through the dim light of dusk, Luhan saw the man pause and squint his eyes. What must he make of their party: four humans, a dwarf, an elf, and a qunari, dressed for winter but also armed to the teeth.

"Whatever I ask, you say? Seems you are rough party out to murder me in the night and steal my goods. Why should I listen to any words you say, huh?!" He took a few steps towards them, but stumbled on the last one. Alarmed, he managed to hold himself upright in the snow. The beginnings of panic, however, were strewn across his face. His eyes darted towards the lodge. Luhan imagined inside might be his family, unarmed and in need of protecting.

Before the man could do something drastic, like perhaps attempt to attack them and fall on his ass, Luhan too stepped forward.

"I'm a templar. We mean you no harm, we just need a place to stay the night if you will let us." 

He did not seem particularly inclined, but Luhan's tactic seemed to do the trick. Armed with Luhan's semblance of authority, the man relaxed his stance and, insisting they just not enter his home with their weapons, begrudgingly let them through the door. Luhan ignored his mumbled sentiments of 'templars, templars, never met a templar who did me any lick of good' but the man, who introduced himself as logger Seong, said no more. 

There was indeed a family inside. As Luhan, Minseok, Jongdae, Suho, Kyungsoo, Kris, and Tao bowed their way into a remarkably low-ceilinged room, a tiny middle aged woman ran forward fretfully to greet them. At a word from her husband, she then ran to prepare them food. Luhan caught sight of a couple small children flittering through another doorway, their large eyes wide open and curious, but lacking their parents' general fear. 

"This is nice," said Minseok politely, when the logger beckoned them to sit before the hearth. Already the warmth from the fire had made everyone feel better. Luhan shed his outer coat and crept forward. The man said no more. He ambled awkwardly around them as they drew around the fire, belatedly offering ale when Kris offered to pay for it. The qunari then offered to carry it as well as several crates, from which they made into makeshift tables. At this offer of kindness, the logger relaxed further, even allowing Suho to disappear into the other room with his wife when the dwarf offered to assist making the meal. Never fully unguarded, he was at least starting to warm up.

"You've been traveling long?" 

Jongdae, still taking general charge of the situation, nodded. "Yes. We were out to rendezvous with some friends of ours, but... these winter storms did sneak up on us. I'm afraid we ended off course."

"Winter, you say?" The logger snorted. "Eh, the snows did come early this year." He made no further comment about the weather, but Luhan saw he was still sizing up their party. Kris' lumbering height plus the horns on his head would have been a particularly unusual sight this far from a major city. Perhaps that was why, not half an hour into their thrown-together meal, the man's children had both come out of hiding, finally brave enough to approach what they called 'monster' but treated like a puppy. They gathered around him, almost forgetting to ask if they could touch his head. Kris, holding in a grimace, acquiesced enough to lean his upper body down to let them explore. 

"They're real!" shrieked one of the children, a little girl who then proceeded to fall into giggles.

Jongdae laughed. Minseok grinned. The logger's wife paled considerably when she came back into the room, but after a while even she softened up. Tao was by now stretched out on the floor. Only Kyungsoo, holed up closest to the fire with his robes pulled tightly around him, did not seem to partake of the lightened mood. Nevertheless, Luhan smiled, looking around the scene of apparent domesticity. He hadn't been in such a place since... since before he'd been sent away by his family to join the ranks of the Templars. And even then though, family life had always been a little more complicated. 

He caught Minseok's gaze by chance, twin smiles on their faces. Minseok's, however, fell the moment he looked at Luhan. Still, their eyes held for a long moment. Minseok then tilted his head towards the door, a telltale sign to meet him outside. 

Luhan pulled on his furs before stepping outside. They were filthy by now, matted and smelly and forever damp despite having been dried beside the fire just now. It was yet a reminder of how long they'd been doing this: traveling, wandering, whatever this was. And for all that time there had never been a period without some huge misunderstanding standing in between Luhan and Minseok. 

"Well?" Luhan asked him, pretending to keep it light. 

To his surprise, Minseok didn't immediately have anything to say. He stood still and gazed off into the distance, which due to the darkened night wasn't very far. "Walk with me," he said instead a minute later. 

They went only so far as the logging shed. Luhan walked carefully around the large machine until he found a place to perch. The shed was open on one side; snow drifted in but stopped before it reached the templar's toes. Minseok sat beside him.

"When did you know?" asked the mage. 

"About Yixing?" By now Luhan wasn't going to feign innocence. 

"Yes."

"Since Orzammar."

That shocked Minseok. He turned to Luhan sharply. "What? How?"

Luhan stared at his boots and swallowed heavily. "When I was ill in bed..."

"Did _Yixing_ tell you?" asked Minseok incredibly. 

Luhan shook his head. "No, your... brother did."

A whole range of emotions passed over the mage's face before he spoke again. The first one was disbelief, then shock, then confusion. Luhan stared at his feet and bit the inside of his cheek. Unbelievably, he felt guilty for keeping the secret so long. He never doubted that Minseok's brother, Xiumin, was as dangerous as Minseok said, and still he'd kept his mouth shut all this time. For letting the apostate creep in between Luhan and Minseok's relationship, for making him want to doubt Minseok, for still making him doubt certain things...

At long last, Minseok spoke. "I wish you had told me sooner."

Luhan shook his head. "Believe me, so do I."

"Why did he?"

"He said it was a goodwill offering." Luhan laughed. "Well, technically he gave me a bottle of lyrium, but I think it was a bribe."

"What?" Minseok choked, and Luhan immediately dug into the back of his furs where he'd kept the precious liquid. It was the last one he left. The only one. The rest were lost somewhere in the Deep Roads and for every day since then Luhan breathed shallowly hoping he wouldn't need it. Had it truly been a goodwill offering? There was no guarantee Xiumin's potion wasn't actually poison.

"Let me see it," said Minseok. He turned the bottle over in his hands, fingers poring over the stopper until he pulled it out. He sniffed, delicately wafting the air towards his nose. 

"What is it?" 

"It is, lyrium."

"And is it safe?" Luhan hardly dared ask.

"I believe so. Why do you say it was a bribe? What else did he tell you?"

"Nothing." From the slight rise of his voice, Luhan knew Minseok would not accept his answer. He took in one long, deep breath, the bitter cold air staining his lungs. "Well, he also suggested you were keeping some things from me. From us. Are you, Minseok? I think I know you well enough by now. You want to find the others, and you've been leading us thus far. You and Kyungsoo... I don't know what the two of you are about, but for some reason he has your trust even more than I and that makes me feel..."

Luhan sighed, frustrated. Because he didn't know how that made him feel. Jealous? For sure they did not have the same relationship as Luhan and Minseok did, which... whatever kind of relationship they had even Luhan did not exactly know. 

"You're right," said Minseok, cutting off Luhan's inner monologue. 

Luhan scoffed. "I'm  _right?_ "

The mage allowed himself to smile, his head tilting sideways. "I mean, that I've been keeping secrets. Luhan, I don't trust you less than I do Kyungsoo, but it was Kyungsoo's secret, and at first I wasn't sure what to do about it."

"What do you mean it was his secret? And it has something to do about why you think we should find the others? How? Is it about Sehun?" Luhan caught himself before he could get even more paranoid. If it was about the boy then who knew anything anymore. Since the beginning of their journey Sehun had gone from being disguised as a girl, then he was a bastard son of an arl, then a hounded heir marked for death. Come to find out he'd had an assassin on his tail all along, there to keep him  _safe_ , and not only that but now there was Kyungsoo... silent but desperate to track him again.

"What does Kyungsoo want with him?" For it was now clear that whatever Minseok meant, it had something to do with that tainted man. 

Minseok looked pain. "He doesn't want him necessarily," he softly admitted. "It's what he has..." 

"I don't understand." What could Sehun possibly have?

"There's a necklace," said Minseok quickly, softly. "He wears it around his neck, usually under his robes. It's a family heirloom, I think. Very old. From what Kyungsoo has said, it seems to have belonged to the arl's family, given at birth to Sehun's mother to prove his lineage, bastard or not."

"A necklace," repeated Luhan. "Kyungsoo has been tracking Sehun for months, _for a necklace_. What, is so special about this necklace?"

If possible, Minseok's voice dropped even lower, and there was a slight tremble about his lower lip. "On its own... nothing."

"But."

"But, together with two other gems... something, incredible. Miraculous, maybe. Something, that may not even be possible, but there are legends. Legends so old they've been forgotten by almost everyone. Even Yixing barely believed it could exist. I certainly didn't until-"

He stopped, mouth gaping, as if trapped in his own incredulous wonder. He looked up, and Luhan held his gaze for a long moment, testing the mage's resolve.

"It's called the Well of Emerald Waters. I have... seen it."

"You've been there?!" 

Quickly, Minseok shook his head. "No. Not in person. In a trance." 

Luhan felt ill. "A trance," he repeated. "Exactly _w_ _hen_  was this trance?"

The mage shuffled where he perched and stared at his toes. "You know it."

Because Luhan did. For hours he had cried, panicked near until death at the state of an apostate mage, unconscious in his arms, suddenly precious but very mortal. "When you touched the ring," Luhan breathed softly, his voice nevertheless rising. "When you almost died. That ring, it was the second gem? To do what? What is the Well of Emerald Waters?"

Minseok shook his head. "I don't know exactly."

"You must have an idea."

"I do, but... it requires all the gems just to find out. And then to see if it's true, if it's even worth taking that risk. I haven't told anyone but I'm scared actually. Of the well, of those gems. Of Kyungsoo's resolve. He's so determined to find them all to unite them and activate the well, but Luhan, they were cursed for a reason. If it had been anyone else but me whose skin touched that ring, they might have died! Only because I was a mage... but no, not even that. Even if I'd been a less powerful mage, I could have still died."

Luhan remembered all too clearly. "But that ring... Max, or Changmin, whatever his name was... he, he must have touched it right? It even had his initials engraved inside the band."

"They're a cult. They probably worship the well. The fact they even know it exists and probably how to activate it is scary enough. I've no doubt whoever belongs to the cult and to that family has long employed magic in order to wield the gems."

"But they only had one."

Minseok nodded. "Yes, the ring."

"Which we lost..."

The mage hesitated, but continued nevertheless. "And the necklace. It makes sense both the ring and necklace at one point belonged to the arl's ancestors. Two jewels passed down two separate family lines."

The math at this point was begging to be asked. "And the third?"

Minseok sighed. "It's a bracelet. Kyungsoo has it. He found it and touched it."

Pain shot across Luhan's brow, the effects of fear. "He touched it!? Is that why he's... he's..." He didn't know what Kyungsoo was, but  _diseased unto death_  sounded about right, and if Minseok had likewise been cursed then...

"No!" Minseok hastily avowed. "No, that's something else. No, but when he touched it he also fell into a trance like I did. And it didn't kill him because he's already... Well, anyways that's how he learned about the well's existence. The vision I... that _we_ had... it beckons you."

Recognizing at least one thing Minseok still refused to explain, Luhan let that go. However, he still paled. "Minseok, if you and Kyungsoo both touched the gems and were cursed, then why hasn't Sehun? If that necklace has been with him his whole life-"

"It's encased. I took a good look at it once I realized. Somewhere long ago somebody must have realized it was cursed. The emerald stone is buried beneath an outer layer. It's safe to touch."

"You're sure then that it's the gem?"

"Positive. It has residual power, call it an essence or whatever. I know it's the one."

Another cold gust of wind swept across them both, and Luhan shivered. "The ring, the necklace, the bracelet. And all three together somehow power a mysterious well that you don't really know how it works."

The mage nodded demurely. "Correct."

"But we lost the ring, so why are we still on this track? Unless you just want to make sure Sehun never loses that necklace or Kyungsoo activates the well or-"

"I didn't lose it."

Luhan's heart practically drops out of his chest. "What?"

"I... d-didn't lose it."

"How!? It was on the packhorse that escaped during the dragon attack- when  _Yixing_ attacked, but it got away and.. and..." At the mage's trembling lower lip, at the blush of guilt burning now across his face, Luhan knew anger. And fear. "You secured it. You never lost it. You want to find the well. That was the secret Xiumin meant, wasn't it. Makers Blood! I just realized: does your brother know about this?! Is that why he's been after us too?"

"Yes... _yes, and yes_ , everything's a blasted, bloody _yes_! He found out somehow. Probably _after_  he tried to kill me the first time. But that's why he tried to trap us in Orzammar. He wants the gems, all of them. I've got the ring, though he hasn't been able to get it off me yet. But even in Orzammar, Kyungsoo protected Sehun and kept them both hidden, so both the bracelet and necklace were safe from him. I just worry, without knowing how grave the situation is, how long will Sehun be safe on his own. His protectors only care about his life, which is a good start, but Xiumin doesn't need to kill Sehun to steal the necklace. And then he'll come after us. One way or another, he will come for us."

"Minseok, what is the well that so many people want it?" Luhan probably didn't want to know. Knowing probably wouldn't put him at ease, but now it was a case of necessity. "Minseok?" 

The mage trembled some more. "I don't know the details, but if the legends are true... if the gems are really the key to activating it, then it's said drinking from the well brings about a kind of... new life?"

"A new life?"

"Power," whispered Minseok. "Power and... immortality. At who knows what cost to the world." 

Luhan gasped. Minseok's revelation wasn't even the scariest thing about it. The mage sounded fearful, but he was also in awe. What worried the templar most, was the spark in his eyes just speaking those words. 


	40. In the Path of Giants

"Someone tell me that's not a giant." 

Four pairs of eyes peered beyond the tree line where they hovered for safety. Chanyeol was the first to answer. "It's not a giant."

The elf huffed, defeated already. "Thanks anyways, I appreciate the lie, but that's one huge giant. So what's the plan?"

They had found one of the few bridges that was still operable across the cold, frigid waters of the river below. The stone masonwork itself was testimony to a long ago age when the Tevinter Imperium had conquered and ruled this part of Thedas. Where empire had failed, their constructs still stood. Unfortunately, their way was blocked by a lumbering beast three times the height even of a qunari. 

"We... run really fast?" Jongin suggested, however his voice bespoke this plan as an obvious fail.

"Anyone ever seen one of these before?" asked Chanyeol. 

"Besides me?" said Baekhyun.

"Yeah, besides you."

When Jongin shook his head, they all looked at at Sehun. 

"Are you really suggesting that _I_  might have seen and fought a giant in all my humble years?"

Chanyeol shrugged. "It was worth a try. Okay, then Baekhyun, you're up. What's the plan?"

Back to where to they started, the elf just huffed some more. "Last time I saw a giant I ran really fast in the other direction and never came back. Like seriously, it's a giant. You don't mess with them. You peek around trees where you know they're used to living, and then you sneak backwards slowly... so you don't run into another one... and then, you run. So in my opinion we should... oh bother."

Clearly, that tactic wasn't going to help them now. It was this bridge or nothing, unless they wanted to try another portage option which might take them days beyond their route. And with winter upon them, dwindling supplies, and who knew what kind of fiends might be on their trail, that wasn't a viable option at all. 

Alistair barked. 

Baekhyun had almost forgotten the hound. Since it had gotten separated from his master, Alistair was a typically silent partner. He trailed along after Sehun with his nose either in the the wind or the dirt. He hunted for his own food. He slobbered over everyone, scratched his ears and licked his butt. A veritable dog, most of the time, and yet for a while Baekhyun had forgotten the beast was in fact a  _fighting hound._

"How about you, Alistair? Got any cool tactics?" 

The hound barked, scratched the ground, then sniffed in the opposite direction, in the way they'd come.

"I'm guessing," said Jongin, "that he's also in favor of finding another way."

Sehun sighed. Chanyeol looked peeved. From the far side of the bridge came the  _lump lump lumps!_ of a great, burling beast smashing slowly through the brush and the snow. Shortly afterwards, a tree fell. Everybody jumped and ducked, hiding low behind the partly crumbling stonework of the ancient Tevinter bridge, but the giant had not seen them. It had not even guessed they were there, or perhaps it knew and just didn't care, puny creatures such as them. 

Alistair growled but he didn't for long. Instead he went back to sniffing the ground. A moment later he lay down and Baekhyun sighed.

"Step One. We're going to need a distraction."

"That sounds feasible," said Jongin. "Who's the distraction, and what's Step Two?"

"Step One involves Chanyeol doing a funny dance, and Step Two involves the rest of us running really fast."

"Hey!" 

Baekhyun ignored him. Jongin was musing over this plan, arms crossed over his chest even in their crouched position. Sehun was peeking over the bridge in the giant's direction. This may very well be their only option. 

"I'm serious, Chanyeol. But only because I think you've got one of the best attacks out of all of us. I can give you an initial head start with some arrows, but Jongin needs to stay with Sehun and run defensive interference if things get hairy and... well, I bet Alistair can bite his legs and keep the dumb creature turning so you can just...  _duck_  when you have to."

" _Duck?_ " Chanyeol repeated. 

Baekhyun nodded. "Yes, _duck_. Beware of its arms. They're the size of tree trunks and ten times as deadly. Also, does anyone see any boulders around it? They like to throw things but they're awfully slow. See why the best tactic is to run really fast? You and Alistair distract it and the rest of us can sneak by. Then I'll pelt it with some arrows to give you guys a chance to escape. I'd say the odds are..."

"Don't tell me the odds, you maniac elf!" Chanyeol cried. Then he cringed. "Just tell me if you really think this is the best and  _only_  way to go."

Baekhyun smiled, not at all as confident as he looked. "It's this or we have to go around..." 

In hindsight, as most plans seem to go, theirs was  _not_  the best idea. They talked for a long while about individual actions, placement, and timing, what to do if some carefully thought out plan went slightly awry and how to troubleshoot. Jongin drew lines in the snow with a broken stick and Sehun munched on a piece of dried meat ("In case this is it, I can at least say I had a last meal"). Then they attacked.

At first it went well. They managed to surprise the great beast with a few well-aimed arrows, then Chanyeol rushed forward sword bared and roaring. He looked like a peon compared to the giant but between him and Alistair they successfully distracted it from noticing Jongin, Sehun, and Baekhyun bearing low across the bridge, their hearts practically pounding in their chests as each prayed to the Maker that this venture would end well.

Baekhyun paused only enough times to let off an arrow or two and give Chanyeol an edge, but those only enraged the giant. He roared even louder, thunderous sonic booms that chilled one to the bone. The trees trembled under its bellows, settled snow falling to the ground in great tufts while the giant lunged and slashed at the two flies attacking its feet. Alistair barely dodged one of its great feet, but the impact of it was enough to drive Chanyeol to the ground. 

Everyone gasped, but the warrior wasted no time scrambling back to his feet and, dazed or not, continued his attack. 

"That smell, ugh!" Sehun cry-whispered as they neared it.

"Hush!" Jongin warned.

The giant took no notice of them, and the two were through. 

"Chanyeol, now!" called Baekhyun, already dodging trees as he mentally rerouted their journey through this new side of the forest. 

The two-handed warrior did not immediately run. Baekhyun whistled, and Alistair bounded quickly back. Only then did Chanyeol turn his back on the giant. 

And so they ran. They ran and ran, leaves bursting across their faces, snow crackling under their boots. Until Baekhyun's heart was near to ending and his muscles ached. Still the thing followed them. They could hear it bowling through the trees which slowed him down but not enough. The forest seemed dead to all but their feet, their breaths. Once or two they slipped in the snow and another bent down and ran back to drag him up. Blinding white was their vision as they ran and ran, until the trees grew still and the chase grew long and Baekhyun could not longer hear the snowy carnage behind them. 

"Jongin, slow down!" Baekhyun whispered dramatically, after what felt like forever. 

The party slowed, breathing loudly,. Baekhyun huffed and bent over, one hand on his knee and the other over his pounding heart. 

"I'm going to die," said Sehun.

His face was blood red, hair standing on end. Jongin looked like he'd run into several trees head first. His hair was grey mixed with the snow. Baekhyun heaved, then stood up, hobbled over to him and began absentmindedly to shake a hand through Jongin's hair. He peered around. 

Chanyeol looked utterly awful. He was wheezing, and there was blood running down from his shoulder, dirtied now and mixing with sweat. 

"Chanyeol?" asked Jongin, now thunderstruck. "What happened? Are you okay?"

The tall warrior sniffed. He clutched his shoulder and looked at his injury as if seeing it for the first time, his breath showing heavy in the frozen air. "It's only a flesh wound," he said. Then his legs gave out and he collapsed onto the ground. 

"Chanyeol!" everyone screeched as they ran to his side. 

Only Baekhyun paused long enough to check that their lumbering giant was not still on their tail. Since they'd cleared the bridge Baekhyun had been steering them off the path, away from the trail and directly into the woods, hoping to lose the creature amongst the trees. It seemed they were successful. 

"I think, I may need to rest here a bit," said Chanyeol. 

"Okay, okay, let's do that," said Baekhyun. With Jongin's help they began pulling aside the torn wool of Chanyeol's shirt. Right there, beneath a break in the armor, was a slash wound as from a sword. 

"Uhm..." 

Chanyeol cringed. "Don't say anything, okay... That giant was tough. I got turned around once trying to dodge it and my sword got stuck against my body after I swung it over my head. It was either my neck or my shoulder, I had a choice, when that thing's arm came flying down and smashed me so... yeah."

He looked embarrassed. Tired and injured, and embarrassed. 

Sehun was the first to snort. Wordlessly Chanyeol lowered his eyes and glared at him. Alistair barked. Jongin just nodded. "I'm actually more impressed that you didn't do more damage to yourself than just this."

"Gee, thanks."

They cleaned him up the rest of the way in silence, everyone still trying to catch their breaths. 

Alistair barked again. 

"Hush, puppy," said Baekhyun, halfway annoyed. If they could just take another twenty minutes to rest, maybe divide up the last of their remaining stores for a midday snack, then they'd be fine again until they  _hopefully_  came along a village or farm. Baekhyun would take even an  _elven_  community at this rate. Anywhere they might at least find decent food they didn't have to spear, shoot, or bludgeon first, and perhaps a warm, dry place to sleep.

The hound did not settle down. Finally even Sehun came over to the animal and sank his head into Alistair's mane to try to calm him down. Alistair moved, licked his head, then went right on barking. Suddenly he growled. 

_Th-ump._

The whole ground shook. 

Jongin stood up, suddenly grim. He pulled his sword from its sheath. Baekhyun paled.

_Th-ump. More snow disloged from the branches over their heads._

"Oh no, no, no," said the elf. 

Another thump followed, this time with the accompanying sound of a tree being split in two. 

"It's the giant," Sehun gasped. 

But it was coming from the wrong direction. 

_Thump. Th-ump._

"Uhm, guys?" said Baekhyun more calmly than he felt. 

Chanyeol gulped. "No, it's a different giant." And Baekhyun agreed.

 _Thump. Th-ump. Th-ump_.

"Hate to break it to you," he said, "but that sounds like more than one."

A small animal screeched pitifully from nearby. Sehun, who had stood up, jumped and fell backwards. He landed on a halfway broken branch which snapped with enough force to alert a small army. Or, two giants. 

The echos of their foot stamps grew faster. Baekhyun almost couldn't tell from which direction they came from. His vision was still a daze, and every direction appeared the same. 

"Baekhyun?" Jongin questioned hastily.

"Uhhh. I am so, so sorry," Baekhyun finally replied. Because he had just led them across the boundary of one giant's territory, right into the den of another's. 

Three things happened at once. 

Sehun shrieked. A giant appeared in their periphery. And a flash of light shot through the trees, almost blinding them. Baekhyun couldn't have said at first where this flash of light originated. He was too busy leaping to his feet, Alistair at his toes, and reaching for a throw of arrows. 

"Chanyeol, up, now!" he shouted. "You can fall apart later. Right now we've got to run!" Now suddenly Baekhyun understood the mabari's incessant warning barks... If only he'd paid a little more attention sooner, then perhaps they might actually survive this. Unknown pools of adrenaline kicked in right as he ran, then landed, on the feet of their newest giant friend. 

"Baekhyun!" someone howled. 

Baekhyun cursed just as the giant's foot came up to squash him. Fortunately, bewildered though he was, Baekhyun was still faster. He rolled beneath it, sidled up against the other foot, and when the first one came crashing down, he leaped upwards and dodged again. Jongin met him on the other side. One hand holding onto Sehun, he reached onto Baekhyun's arm and lugged him too. They turned around. Chanyeol was on his feet again and fighting the giant with Alistair by his side. Maybe if it was only the one giant again they could make it like last time. Except the second giant appeared between the trees, cutting off their escape route. 

Another flash of light flew between the trees followed by a crash of power that shot the first giant right in the eyes. The beast looked a little stunned but it hardly slowed him down. It was only enough for Chanyeol to make a run for it. 

"What was that?" he yelled, hobbling towards their brief respite between two magnanimous smelly giants. Another streak of magecraft shot off from behind the trees. 

"I don't know," cried Jongin, "but we've got an ally and I'm not going to argue right now."

The unknown mage was by now dueling with both giants alternately, just enough to keep them from noticing the small powerless humans and elf hiding in the brush and branches. Baekhyun waited until the farthest giant stumbled past them before popping his head up to see. There, almost too far to see, was a recognizable figure. 

"Yixing! It's Yixing!"

"What?" cried Jongin.

"Is he alone?" whispered Sehun. 

Alistair growled. 

"I don't know," said Baekhyun, "but he's clearly on our trail so I hazard a guess we should get out of here, let him deal with those things and then come after us later. If all else fails, he can shift into a dragon and turn them into ash."

Jongin tacitly agreed. They limped away, each supporting the now sorely injured Chanyeol, as fast as they dared go. And this time Baekhyun kept watch lest they run blind into any more giants.

They made camp that evening next to a low ridge in the landscape. Sehun sighed at the remains of their last available rations. Tomorrow would be civilization or bust. Jongin struggled to cheer him up. Baekhyun made constant digs that they'd probably freeze to death before they died of starvation. Chanyeol just moaned. His wounds had been treated with the few herbs Baekhyun knew to use, his chest tied up, but even so blood was beginning to seep through his bandages. When a lone figure appeared in the shadows, one twig cracking to signal his arrival, no one was sad to see the mage who had probably saved their lives.

"Yixing?" Jongin stood up to greet him. 

"I find you at last," said the mage. "Ahh, what's the fare tonight? Dried roots and jerky? Lucky for you guys I found a small woodcutter's cottage not long ago and traded for some real food, plus ale."

As they all cheered and dived for the bag Yixing laid at their feet, only Sehun looked around confused. 

Alistair was missing. 

 

 

 

 

The morning after sleeping at the loggers' village was halfway to blissful. They'd had a tremendous meal the night before, homecooked, comfortable pallets on a solid floor before a roaring fire which even after burning all night was still blazing warm from the embers. Kyungsoo was not the first one awake, but he was the first one to groan and roll over. This trajectory brought him farther from the fire but right into the sleeping nose of Tao, the once-upon-a-time werewolf. Even now there was something wolfish to the boy who was likely twice or three times Kyungsoo's age. Yet, he was innocent of so much, compared to Kyungsoo.

 _It's time to go._  He whispered in his head, feeling around for Minseok's conscious. 

 _No,_  said a sleepy voice in reply.

 _Minseok...._  Kyungsoo cautioned. 

Regardless he pulled himself up and pushed down his pallet. Someone's leg had gotten stuck with his in the night. It was Jongdae's. He shoved it off and the assassin barely moved.

Kris was awake already. He reclined near to the fireplace, sleepy eyes and disheveled hair betraying his alertness to anything that might be amiss. Kyungsoo appreciated his self-awareness. 

 _Minseok, wake up_.

_Noo..._

A glance at the apostate told Kyungsoo all he needed to know. In between the pallets and one shared blanket, he could barely make out where Minseok left off and Luhan began. Kyungsoo scoffed. Kris met his eyes, followed his gaze to the two sleeping enemies, and chuckled. The sound was enough to bring Jongdae to full consciousness. Somewhere by his side, the dwarf also awoke. What should have taken minutes to get everyone up and ready to move out took well over an hour. They were getting sloppy. 

And Kyungsoo was impatient. 

"Game plan, assess," said Jongdae, when they were finally packed. They'd said their goodbyes to the old logger and his family. Kris and Tao loaded up their goods and extra baggage on their backs like pack mules. Everyone else carried more than their fair share of accessories, all except for Kyungsoo who, while healed, was still feeling the effects of his battle with the drakes. For a long time now, magic hadn't worked as effectively on his body. None but him and Minseok understood why, and even the mage could not explain it fully. 

Kyungsoo heaved his poor body onto the road beside the rest of the party and each of them leveled a look at Minseok.

The mage shrugged like this was a casual little jaunt into the countryside. "Well, Luhan and I talked last night..."

"Luhan, and you." Jongdae was not impressed. "Okay, tell us more." 

"And, we agree that we should continue tracking down the others. I... didn't exactly want to tell you guys why, but I think it's worth clearing up a few misunderstandings.

 _What?!_ Kyungsoo telepathically shouted.

Minseok grimaced. He shot Kyungsoo a daring set of eyes.  _Not everything, just something._

 _"_ It's about their safety, so I think a few of you,  _Jongdae_ , might agree with me here." Then, slowly, he pulled out a small bound bundle from his pocket. "Most of you would recognize this object except I refuse to take it out. The last time I touched it, I almost died."

Kyungsoo watched something click in Jongdae's eyes as an old memory resurfaced. After a few moments, the same dangerous clarify crossed on Suho's face, followed by Kris. Luhan betrayed no surprise, as Kyungsoo already expected. Tao merely blinked. 

"You have Changmin's ring." It was Jongdae who spoke first. He stalked towards Minseok, shocked and a little betrayed. "That ring was cursed and sent you into a trance. Why do you still even have it?" He paused, as if assessing the cause in his head. "It's evidently important. Tell us, now." 

 _Are we really doing this?_  

Again Minseok didn't reply. He continued speaking like nothing had happened. "Best if we get moving and I will explain as we go."

"No, now," Jongdae insisted. 

Minseok sighed, and Kyungsoo smirked. "Alright, then. As I told Luhan, this ring is indeed cursed, but that's not all. It's part of a set. I have one, courtesy of Changmin. Sehun has another, a necklace though he doesn't understand the significance. And, there is a third jewel. Together they unlock a dangerous secret from those who would seek it. Sehun's life is in danger as long as he has it. That's why he's being pursued. It's not just because he is an heir and a potential threat but because they, whoever they are, want it. I will tell you the rest of the tale, what little I know about it, but I must insist we start moving now. I have... set a seeking spell on Alistair. I believe he went with them and probably still is there. He will lead us to them, wherever they are. I should admit, part of my fear stems from my brother, Xiumin."

Jongdae seethed audibly, and his hands bound tightly into fists. "What about him?"

"He wants that necklace too. He will find Sehun first if we don't set out."

"And you will tell us about this secret? Why the gems are so significant?" Jongdae pressed. 

"I can," said Minseok, "but I won't."

"No, because I don't know enough. But there is someone here who does."

Kyungsoo bristled. _No, no you don't...._

But Minseok just smiled. Then, his smile settled on Kyungsoo. 

_Your story, my friend. This is your story now._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha ha~! Bet y'all thought you'd seen the last of me. Okay I'm going to admit, having a baby is SO HARD. But worth it. Check me on twitter for cute pictures daily. In other news, here is a chapter of dragon age and GUESS WHAT! There will be ANOTHER full-length "special" chapter coming out before the weekend is up. I am trying super hard right now to keep focused and write this story, not so that it feels like just another task (which I'll admit, I've felt that more often than not in the last couple months) but right now I have renewed joy in the story. So, hopefully that translates well into writing. NO idea yet how many more chapters there will be, but if you can't guess already, we are in the final stretch of our adventurers' journey. 


	41. Tale of the Grey One

 

CODEX UPDATED:

"The Grey One", from Tales of Heroes, a Compendium of Stories in the Dragon Age, ca. 9:33. The following copy, certainly no original, was only found in 10:22 near the end of the Lords Age. It seems to have been kept as part of a collection belonging to the Arl of Redcliffe, probably as part of the exalted library inaugurated there in 10:67 by the great great granddaughter of famed Arl Sehun of West Hills, around whom part of this legend revolves. Though old, the tale of the "Grey One" is deemed by scholars all over Thedas as overly dramatic but 'probably historical'. The fragment reprinted here is one of only three surviving parchments detailing certain highlights of its hero's life. Songwriters and bards galore as well as many a tavern wench will likely appreciate the tale as having involved other known and revered names including the Three Adventurers of Ferelden, who slew the dragon Yixing and many other beasts besides; Ser Jongdae and Suho Skywalker, legendary warriors both, though their fame is much kept to dwarven retellings in Orzammar; not to mention Xiumin the Great, also called Minseok, and his templar companion, unnamed. Several other characters will our readers hear about and ponder, but whether our story here speaks the truth of what really happened involving the Well of Emerald Waters, that song of old, we will never entirely know. Its author is a mystery.

_(Author of this forward also unknown, though it is historically accredited to the Scholar of the Dales, Baekbeom Byun, died ca. 11:71)_

 

> It was a time of legends, a time of enchantment, a time of dragons and their slayers, nay a time when the Taint of the earth roamed the land, which is just about every age so if we stick to this version storytelling you will surely not know when to which we refer, for this is our story and my story as much as it the story of the Grey One. Does any titled person have such murky reverence as one whose color was known as grey? You will ask me why he was grey. Some say it was the robes he wore, some say it was his hair, aged over the years and faded with the burden of wisdom. And yet, the story of the Grey One begins as most stories do: with a birth, in a quiet village in Ferelden, one gurgling, happy baby, a little malnourished but not unto death. His birth name was Kyungsoo, though not many people speak or even remember this now. He was a good little lad, prone to curiosity as most babies are, also not unto death though the same could not be said of his eldest brother. They say this eldest brother took off when Kyungsoo was but five years old, and when he returned, the little boy was then ten. One curious little ten year old boy, drunk on the tales his sibling did bring home: of great cities and powerful lords, or giants and wolves, and magic with all its forbidden arts. He showed them a few tricks, before the templars came through his door, and the man was never seen or heard from again.
> 
> At this point in the story our readers will understand that this brother was a mage and an apostate. Why do I tell you this, well perhaps because it much affected little Kyungsoo, in that it was his first brush with magic, and also with the consequences of it. And he might have become compelled to follow in his brother's ways except that he himself had no magic at all. In any case, famine came on the heels of the templars and took with it the rest of his family. I would call him the Grey One, except of course he wasn't grey at this time. So perhaps we should hurry along and get to that part of the story before I am accused of fluffing the tale with inconsequential facts.
> 
> The truth is, there are no inconsequential facts. This boy at age ten became the sole survivor of his family, and alone set off in a vague search for the only other relative he knew, his mage brother. I am told his journey sent him far and wide across Ferelden on many dead ends and false routes. Eventually he learned that his brother had been sent to the Circle Tower, and from there to another Circle in a yet further land in Thedas, much too far for a young lad of barely twelve or thirteen. If you think this contradicts the facts of earlier wherein the brother was never heard from again, suffice it to say that he was practically, like the dead. So Kyungsoo was set adrift then and still alone. It is here that history turns into myth, or perhaps myth into fantasy, or fantasy into history. Bear with me, for the story is long! And before that, perhaps my readers should be told that I speak with authority for this story was told to me directly! - or near directly - by the Grey One himself. In fact, readers will delighted to learn that I myself was a friend of the Grey One, before he was known by that name but after he became grey. When I met him...
> 
> _(~~~Fragments here remain lost in the midst of the story where the parchment had decayed and worn thin, a sad unfortunate reality thus alluding to the mystery of its author~~~)_
> 
> My point is that somewhere before our tale begins, the boy Kyungsoo became 'found' so to speak by one who is not spoken of anymore. This person, if indeed it could be called a person, or maybe it was once a person, is better known to people (but not called this by The Grey One) as The Architect. Legends suggest the Architect was a darkspawn emissary, unique among darkspawn in that he did not hear or obey the call of the Old Gods. Some speak of him as one of the gods himself, a magister of the Ancient times, who tried to enter the Golden City but was then cast down weakened and deformed. Much as has been speculated about the Architect about his magnanimous plan to create a harmony between darkspawn and human. I shall leave off his story, however, and speak once again about Kyungsoo, even as I wish wholeheartedly to veer off on another exciting tale. We'll leave it, however, for another day.
> 
> This boy was in a sense adopted by the Architect. Certainly he was raised alongside him for many years learning of this emissary's plans and much of his lore and wisdom. You would think it strange perhaps that a young boy and a darkspawn would have anything in common, and many agree. Perhaps he was instead one of the Architect's experiments to spread the Taint to humankind in order to bring about a kind of kinship with the darkest of darkspawn. If anyone cannot fathom this, it should be remembered that the Grey Wardens, in order that they may fight darkspawn, drink of the darkspawn's blood. Those who survive the ritual become Grey Wardens. Those who don't, die. Yet Kyungsoo never drank of the darkspawn blood. Readers should find this curious indeed, but the Grey One never did explain why, only that he didn't.
> 
> So how did he become grey? Simply this: through prolonged proximity and exposure to his master. As the boy grew and experienced the changes lads always do, he stayed thin and wiry, but his complexion darkened and greyed. His hands grew deathly as to rot, but not fully so. In fact his whole body had taken on the Taint in a way most unique. The result was that he was not a darkspawn, having neither the misshapen appearance of one, or the mindless, groveling calling of one, but like the land after a Blight, his body reeked of the essence of it. He was dying, slowly and surely of the Taint.
> 
> It was in 9:31 that the Fifth Blight ravaged Ferelden, when the Hero of Ferelden defeated the Archdemon and the land settled back to rights, but only on the surface. Within the forgotten Deep Roads of Thedas, the Architect still worked, untroubled by the Blight above but deeply moved by a desire to end all Blights, no matter the cost. No one knows why but in 9:33 after several skirmishes between darkspawn and wardens in the Arling of Amaranthine and Vigil's Keep, the Architect disappeared. Not so, his disciple. He was seen and met wandering the ancient highroads of Ferelden where he met finally the Three Adventures of Ferelden, heroes of so many other tales including the Well of Emerald Waters where...
> 
> _(~~~The following half sheet of parchment is missing. Scholars suggest it might have just been lost in the course of the scroll's history, torn from wear, or else intentionally removed by those who would keep us ignorant. Speculation remains that it contains the origins story of the Grey One's companions on that epic adventure to either save or steal the powers of the well, for it is on this topic that our tale is most cryptic~~~)_
> 
> ...so by the time all companions were assembled, including The Honorable Qunari, and Tao, human brethren of the High Light Beasts, and they had all come to include the Grey One within a reasonable degree of trustworthiness, and they entered the great gates of Orzammar, it was there the trouble truly began. Now, of this epic chapter in our tale I could sing all day! For it comes second in heroism only to the great deeds of the Three Adventurers and their great battles with the High Dragon Yixing, the first of which we have already spoken of above Edgevalley Manor where they three-handedly brought down the greatest of all dragons; second in romance only to the story of the Grey One himself and young Arl Sehun; of this I speak: the legend of the Grey One's descent into the dwarven stronghold wherein he rescued Xiumin the Great from the clutches of the dwarf lordling Yibo, saved the fair dwarf maiden Yoona (some say she wanted to marry him, but his heart was already taken), and along with the Three Adventurers lead their friends through safety into the Deep Roads beyond where any human or dwarf had traveled.
> 
> Now Xiumin the Great was a hedge mage from Ferelden, or Orlais, it matters no difference here, and with him a templar named...
> 
> _(~~~The name here has been blotted out, curiously so because this was the last word on the parchment, and the next one also has been lost. One has to wonder then that the story really wasn't deliberately fractured so to keep the templar's anonymity. Or if this be mere coincidence, I believe it cannot ~~~)_
> 
> Having slew the giant spiders and thwarted the darkspawn, we proceeded still deeper into the Deep Roads. Does it shock the reader that I know of these journeys? While many would say that I lie, that I heard of them only secondhand, would any believe if I said I too was there? You may make your own choice, believe in my heroism or not, but either way, what is known now was not known then, so that his companions believed Kyungsoo was just a sickly looking man, and not a former colleague of the Architect himself, by whose knowledge he learned the roads and memorized maps and solved such puzzles in the caverns of Thedas which had been lost even to the dwarves in ages past.
> 
> Weeks we walked the roads, growing tired and sluggish, our legs weary and our bellies empty. We ate of insects and drank no water, until our wineskins were flat and the air so petrid we could hardly breathe. Only then did the path turn upwards and eventually lengthen out until we reached the west side of the Frostbacks and unknowingly onto the den of drakes and their precious eggs. Should I include a poem I heard about the second battle against the dragon, there to guard her nest?  Indeed I shall:
> 
>     **A cave of dragons,
> 
>     Dark and foreboding,
> 
>     Met its match in a handsome elf,
> 
>     His legend known far and wide,
> 
>     Skilled with a blade and with a mind just as sharp,
> 
>     He slew the young dragons,
> 
>     And captured many a heart,
> 
>     With his dashing looks and bravery,
> 
>     That his companions could only dream of possessing,
> 
>     They were a jealous lot,
> 
>     But really who could blame them.
> 
> Strange how it speaks only of an elf, but enough about that. Winter had arrived on the other side of the mountain, and with it bitter cold and all manner of beasts, dragons, giants and spells. Our party splintered, and there we heard the last of the Grey One until our last, final meeting place: the Well of Emerald Waters. Surely you will want to hear of this place, and yet I tell you it is a story unfit to be told, for there is much evil in that place so that even to speak of those times gives a person over to shivering. Nay, let's back up and I'll tell you now of the Grey One and his love, the young Arl of West Hills.  
> 
> Of Arl Sehun there is as much myth as there is romance, even on the subject of his name and face. Anyone curious would do well to visit the Arl's estate and look on his portrait, and you would understand then why the Grey One fell in love with him. They passed, as some say, like ships in the night. Only they were on land and Sehun was on horseback dressed in disguise as the most beautiful of women. The Grey One, as he was now grey, was not disenchanted when the disguise came off but even more so enamored. There was a shine about Sehun, he liked to say, a beacon just as light shines on a jewel, that caused Kyungsoo to follow him from a distance as they traveled Ferelden. Twice did he save that unknowing boy's life with nary a word shared before he vanished again, and the only mark left to speak of the truth were the handprints upon that young arl's body. They were grey, ashen, bruised but uninjured and they faded in moments. Like a wisp The Grey One trailed this boy and grew ever more in love, exasperating the boy's protectors and companions until they thought him a demon. Yet Sehun grew to know him, and to trust him, and to befriend him, to love him. They were companions truly by the time of their descent from Orzammar, shy with one another but hopeful. 
> 
> Then came the Betrayal, that greatest threat of True Love. Wherein young Sehun learned of a secret which caused him to doubt and all others around him too. For the evil of the Well was at work even then, hiding and disguising a person's true intentions. It was after Xiumin the Great revealed the existence of the gems of power, cursed objects belonging to the Well, that The Grey One's interest in Sehun was revealed as just another quest to obtain power. Indeed, everyone was Tainted then, not by the Blight but by greed, even the great mage himself and most his companions. Not so for the Three Adventurers though, whose task then was to protect the young arl and guide him home. They fought a duel with the Grey One and cast him off mountains where, injured almost to death by the great dragon Yixing, he had to be carried all the rest of his journeys. And Sehun was grieved for they told him he died, and when he heard of the Grey One's death he forgave everything and tossed the gem which had been the cause of all sin.
> 
> Here our story should have come to an end, and indeed, some versions here do. Some tell of the young Arl completing his journey and succeeding to the headship of West Hills, alone and broken, lovesick all the days of his life, wherein the Grey One, thought dead, became a wanderer forever. Others claim that there had never been a love between them, only comradery, and that the Grey One became Kyungsoo again and was seen here and there throughout the years in the company of Xiumin the Great. None of these tales however give credence to the legend surrounding this Grey One. For why bother telling a story about someone who merely disappointed his friends, or did not disappoint them but was a casual side hero? I ask this again: why do I bother? Because in the Tale of the Grey One is the story of the Well of Emerald Waters and the two are not unrelated but the two happened  _because_  of the other. For there is no Grey One with the Well, and there is no Well without the Grey One, just as there is no Well without Xiumin the Great, and no Xiumin the Great without his companion the Templar _(~~~Here again, the name has been blotted out~~~)_
> 
> Shall I tell you now a great secret? What really happened that night, in the twilight hours of day in the heart of the Dales, where a sinister power lay dormant but was finally awoken? Shall I tell of marauders who met once again, of the reunion of the Grey One and his love? Or of the great battle of magics and of the demise of the great dragon Yixing? 
> 
> It began in the place where the snow strangely melted...
> 
> _(~~~Readers should not be surprised by now to learn that the following two parchments are listed among the vanished, thus obscuring forever what may have happened. At least the conclusion remains~~~)_
> 
> And so the Grey One departed. His heroics done, his life deed achieved. He left us, there in the shadow of the Well, to return to other things, greater things, or perhaps such mundane things as we could never imagine. For what does a man do who has achieved everything he desired at the cost of so very much? But before he walked away, I spoke to you, yes I. And I said to him 'Kyungsoo' per the name he was born with 'may I tell your story?' And he said 'yes.'
> 
> Now accuse me if you think I'm making all this up. But writing tales takes time, and time breeds imagination and not a little exaggeration, and as for exaggeration, I never apologize. 
> 
> _(~~And so here ends the fragmented tale. Many a historian and many a romantic have cried over its end, not only because it is incomplete. Thrill seekers for generations have sought the Well of Emerald Waters, yet none have found it. I leave it here mentioned that this is probably for the greater good, as the tale does not speak of it so highly. Alas, we shall never know. As for what happened between the Grey One and Arl Sehun, no one is entirely sure. We still do not even know who penned this tale, although years later there was another song recovered with many believe to have been written by the same hand. Curiously, it bears a similar narrative to the poem quoted above. There have been conjectures made that the two poetic authors are the same, and may even be the same as the talemaker himself~~~)_
> 
>     **They tell of a grey one,
> 
>     His legend well known,
> 
>     He appeared from the shadows,
> 
>     Lacking in height,
> 
>     And a sickly ashen color,
> 
>     Really it was strange,
> 
>     Looks aside,
> 
>     A great quest he undertook,
> 
>     And along the way,
> 
>     He captured the heart of a young arling,
> 
>     A youth who knew little of legends and lore,
> 
>     Who fell in love with a creature,
> 
>     That was really quite dainty,
> 
>     Not tall at all,
> 
>     Definitely not as tall and strapping as his elven friend,
> 
> _(~~~Long have Thedas' bards been singing this song, yet they always stop here claiming to have forgotten the rest of the song, and they do not name the 'elven friend'. Perhaps his name too, like the unknown templar, has been lost~~~)_

* * *

 

No one spoke much to Kyungsoo for the rest of the day, only Minseok who had to confer with him about several important matters of direction and who doubtless had already heard his story. But other than he, just Suho shared a few words with the man. And his were words of sympathy which everyone felt in some small form or another, but few knew how to word. The fact that Kyungsoo had lived with a darkspawn was almost too much to bear. Even Luhan who had overcome so much to understand Minseok's apostasy could not fathom how indeed a child like Kyungsoo might come to his current state of being. 

"Are you really... dying?" he asked in muted tones as soon as he dared.

The grey man regarded him with sullen eyes sunk deep into his hood and then nodded. He hadn't spoken half a dozen words since finishing his tale of origins. 

"Is that why you seek the well?" Luhan might as well for it was on everyone's minds. 

Again, Kyungsoo nodded, and Luhan felt ashamed. Ashamed because there was an inkling still that Kyungsoo wanted to activate the well for a more nefarious reason. Could it have something to do with the Architect? Even imagining such a being made Luhan chilled to the bone. And yet the truth was that Kyungsoo really was dying a slow and tainted death. 

As the evening came upon them and dusk drew near, Luhan drew Minseok privately away from the others and asked, "How long have you known this?" 

"Since I touched the ring," the mage replied. The two of them looked ahead where the rest of their weary party marched slowly down the path. Both Minseok and Kyungsoo hoped it would lead them to Alistair, and then to Sehun, where the gems could be reunited and thus saved. But from what, Luhan did not know. 

The mage held Luhan's arm as they walked, and there was an apology in that gesture that made tears come almost come to the templar's eyes. 

"I have dragged you on for so many leagues, Luhan, not knowing if you would trust me. At every point, I have lied to you and kept my secrets. Even now I do not trust myself. Do I want to find the well or do I not? Do I want to see it activated so that Kyungsoo can save himself, or do I fear even that? Have I, who have lied to you, been lied to myself? Or do I want it myself just to fulfill some vague curiosity? Luhan, I do not know, but I am glad you are with me. You will hold me back, won't you? Whatever we find, you will save me from myself?"

His grip tightened, pinching the templar's skin, but Luhan did not move away. "Minseok, you know I would..." he started to say. 

But there was a frenzied scurrying from the forest on their right side. Everyone froze, and Minseok drew out his staff, Luhan and Jongdae their weapons. Kris was about to spring into action, except they heard the familiar barking of an old, old friend.

"Alistair!" Luhan cried, as the hound leaped out and flattened him to the ground. "Alistair! Alist-ugghhh, help! Help me!!"

Minseok laughed as he went and pulled his own dog off the half crushed man. "Alistair, as ever I must question your loyalty." But he tutted, and the beast when he caught sight of his master sat up obediently and licked his chin. Luhan continued to cry for a long while before heaving himself off the ground. He was covered head to toe in muck and drool and he made a nasty face to show for it. 

Unbothered Alistair then made the rounds to each and every party member, giving them a sniff or a lick, two extra for Kyungsoo who smiled for the first time since the morning and laid an ashen hand across his nose. Kris he ignored but Alistair appeared especially interested in Tao who giggled as he pet his once cousin of a beast. Then the hound turned and as the group grew together to reassess he sat down on Suho's lap, completely obscuring the dwarf behind. 

Alistair had not come alone.

Several minutes later there was another rustling and Yixing appeared from where the hound had been. He was smiling, like out of relief. 

"Yixing!" said Minseok, rushing forward to embrace him. "It's been days. Are you alright?"

"I am." He pulled back and looked around, and Luhan could see him checking the group to make sure they too were alright. He paused by Kyungsoo and inclined his head curiously. 

Minseok answered his unasked question. "He was injured by the drakes on the mountain, if you'll remember. I have tried to heal him but as you can see it has not worked."

"I understand. Kyungsoo, I will see what I can do to help you, but right now we have to talk. Minseok, I have seen Xiumin. He has followed us across the Frostbacks and I believe he's wandering these parts. There's not a doubt in my mind he will try to cause trouble."

Minseok stilled. "You... saw him?"

"And spoke to him. He would have dueled me then, except he knew he had not the power. I think he will try again."

"Of course he will. He wants the Well."

"And he will have it, if we don't do something about it. Can I infer that you and Kyungsoo have caught everyone here up to the truth?"

Gravely, Minseok nodded. 

"Good. Then we should get a move on. I found Alistair on my way here. He was quite upset about something and seemed in a hurry to get to you."

"Yes," said the other mage. "He can lead us to the others. He should able to track Sehun pretty well, and the rest. You haven't seen them?"

"No. No one since I woke up from the battle, except Xiumin, and now you. We should hurry. I don't know where they are, but I fear for them."

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooahh yeah a quick update!!! 
> 
> **Song verses written by London9Calling. She is my hero. She should have her own epic tale. 


	42. Caught

Ever since reuniting with Yixing, Jongin hadn't felt right. There was a nagging in his breast like a forgotten incident, as a memory which hovers in the shadows of one's mind hovers without being felt. Yixing was too happy, too helpful. His sudden appearance when they were faced with the dual giants too opportune. And yet no one seemed to feel this way but him. 

Sehun had only looked relieved, sad though he was about missing Alistair. Chanyeol smiled a lot, pleased that the mage had managed to patch up some of his wounds which, several hours later were healing fast. Baekhyun was too occupied with the food in his belly and the ale in his stomach, jittering away about how now they wouldn't have to look for a human village or elven settlement to refill their stores and supplies. And the elf would still not speak of why this made him happy. 

"We should get some sleep now, don't you think?" said Jongin aloud to the partially inebriated crew. Sehun's eyelids were already dropping heavily. Yixing nodded.

"Yes, for we must be up early if we're going to make it to your lady's estate."

Jongin frowned. 

It wasn't a secret about their destination, not exactly. Something about the mage's tone however made him pause.

Baekhyun yawned. "Yeeeahh, another couple days. Hey, Yixing, can't- can't you just turn into a dragon and then you can carry us there instead of making us walk." He yawned again and slumped against Jongin's shoulder. Jongin reached out a hand around the elf's waist to keep him upright. Baekhyun preened at the touch and smiled a soft, drooly smile. 

Across the campfire Yixing chuckled. "Would that I could. Unfortunately, dragons aren't exactly built to carry human riders."

"S'ok," Baekhyun drawled. "Not human, remember."

Chanyeol suddenly snored, and Jongin's frown deepened. Since when did the warrior pass out so easily? He was usually the last of them to fall asleep, and never had he fallen completely asleep without at least confirming with Jongin and Baekhyun who would stay up for the first and second watch. 

"I miss Alistair," said Sehun. Then he too yawned and began swaying side to side.

"Hey, Jongin," said Yixing. 

But Jongin couldn't quite pay attention. Or keep his eyes open. Baekhyun's weight grew heavier on his side. Then the elf too began to snore. 

"Baekhyun?" Jongin shook them both upright. "Baekhyun? Baek?" But Baekhyun just slipped sideways into Jongin's lap and began groping his thigh in his sleep. 

Jongin stared suddenly at the wineskin Yixing had brought them full of hearty ale. His head began to swim, a dull ache overtaking his mind and his limbs until he too felt heavy with sleep. Keeping his head up now seemed like a monumental task. With his focus drifting, however, he turned to stare at the mage, suspicious dawning. 

"Getting tired, huh, Jongin?" said Minseok. 

_No, Not Minseok. Yixing._

Or.

Jongin swore he was seeing double. "I don't feel- Who. Who are you?"

The Yixing who was not Minseok, and the mage who was definitely not Yixing, smiled. 

"Feeling okay? It's alright, Jongin. You can sleep. Nothing bad will happen to you. For now."

Jongin's tongue stuck heavily to the floor of his mouth. "What... have... you done?" he slurred. With his last bit of energy, he tried to stand. Baekhyun's body fell over with a soft thump on the cold earth, and Jongin thought distractedly that he'd made the wrong decision. A moment later, he too thumped sideways, groaning to the sound of the mage's cold, triumphant snigger. 

"How convenient that wretched hound disappeared. Now I have you all the way I want, and Sehun to myself. Alistair will bring the others  _right_  to me. This day could not have ended anymore perfectly." 

The mage who was starting to look less and less like Yixing, smiled, as if immensely pleased with himself. 

"Xiumin," Jongin growled knowingly between clenched teeth. 

"Indeed," said the mage. "Smart one now, aren't you? Too bad you're just a mite too late."

Jongin whispered something that to his ears sounded like "You won't get away-"

But as a powerful sleep overtook him, he couldn't quite make himself believe that. His last word was a curse for all his stupidity. The enemy had looked like a friend, and Jongin had let him walk right into camp. And Sehun... Sehun would probably die. Whatever Xiumin did, they all would probably die, Sehun, and Chanyeol, and Jongin, and... Baekhyun.

He blinked, Baekhyun's peaceful visage before him. Jongin would never get the chance to tell him... But no, Baekhyun probably wouldn't have cared. Baekhyun was only in this for the fun. Wasn't he? And now he would probably never know...

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Something isn't right."

At Kyungsoo's words, the entire party slowed down and stopped. Alistair pawed the ground insistently, a whine echoing from from deep in his throat as Minseok questioned the dark, little man. 

"I've felt that for a long time actually, but what do you mean exactly."

With his mage's staff out and activated, Luhan grimaced. They had been for the better part of a day following the tracking spell set on Alistair. The templar didn't understand the magic, only that between Minseok and Yixing, the mages had opened and connected a link between the hound and the hound's third favorite human being: Oh Sehun, the arl's bastard son. 

"It's the direction we're headed in," said Kyungsoo quietly.

Jongdae stepped up next. "And that direction is...?" 

Smiling wryly, Minseok hazared a guess. "Not in the direction of any settlement or estate, I am guessing?"

Kyungsoo shook his head. "No. Look around us. Look at where we are. There aren't too many places where humans live in these parts. This is edge of the Greatwood." 

"The Emerald Graves," said Luhan. Home to elven mercenaries, and rogue men, and apostates, giants, and wild bears, Luhan knew from living among the wealthy and privileged families that only a handful of nobels even dared to build their estates this deep into the uncavanssed territory. At some point, they had passed through the wintry populace of Orlais's easternmost forests and into a new land. 

Still the snow kept falling, but it wasn't as heavy now. The snowbanks were not as deep. They had passed a few small streams with cold, frigid, but running water. The farther south the travelled, the farther west, following the magical link which would take them to Sehun and the others, the more dangerous Luhan perceived would be their journey's end. 

"Someone better talk to me," said Jongdae with increasing irritation. 

And by someone, Luhan knew he meant either Minseok or Kyungsoo. 

It was the latter who heaved a great breath, and opened his mouth. "I can _feel_ it," he said gravely. His voice was low, shuddering, almost longing.

"Feel what?" asked the assassin.

"A place of power." 

Then a new voice piped up. "What... place of power?" It was Tao. The tall elf rarely spoke up, barely even feined interest in their surroundings, but right this moment he stood next to Kyungsoo, his eyes not on the man but somewhere else, somewhere far away. He tilted his head inquisitively and inhaled deeply, curiously. "I feel something too. Something native to this part of the world... I think I might have been born somewhere near here." He drew in another whiff, and then frowned. The corners of his lips pulled so deep, so thoroughly, it transformed his entire face. "It smells evil."

Minseok stood and swept his staff across the path. Then, without breaking his form, he nodded and said, "Xiumin is close." 

"Not just that," said Kyungsoo. "He is... there. I can feel it. He has the necklace. He is, waiting for us." 

Once again, Jongdae sighed loud and dramatically. Luhan didn't blame him. From being told Kyungsoo carried the Taint from having been raised by darkspawn, to knowing something about why Sehun's life was in danger, there were secrets yet kept from him. Too many secrets. Excepting the two mages, Kyungsoo, and himself, everyone else only knew that Sehun was a wanted figure. They didn't know a thing about the well. Luhan  _wished_  he didn't know about the well. 

Before they could ask, however, Kris stepped up. "If Sehun is danger, then we should ask no questions, and go." 

Jongdae looked to protest. His mouth opened in exasperation, then he shut it soundly. Beside him, Suho took his arm and patted his wrist comfortingly. 

"I am agreed on that front. Alright, all ye mages. How far until we reach this  _evil place_ , and might we have a plan of action once we arrive?"

Kyungsoo was adamant. "One day. One day."

"If Xiumin is there, then we can assume he has Sehun and the others."

"Alive?" Luhan didn't want to ask. 

Minseok huffed. "I think I know my brother. He will hold them hostage until he gets what he wants." 

"And... what is it he wants?" asked Jongdae. 

Another hard question, Luhan thought. One he didn't expect anybody to answer. Contrary to his expectations, however, Kyungsoo knelt slowly to the ground, reached under his robes and began unclasping something from around his ankle. He fumbled with the tie, frowning as he worked. Minseok didn't even look at him. Yixing was staring back at the way they had come from.

Finally, Kyungsoo stood up, his body laboring hard, almost trembling. He held out  along strap of linen that was twisted tightly around another object, a bracelet, as Luhan knew. 

"This," said the man. "He wants this." 

"And he cannot have it," said Minseok, still not even looking. 

"Why?" asked Jongdae. "What is it? Is it worth Sehun's life? Is that what's happening here? Is that what the cult members are after? They think Sehun has it or something?"

"No. It's not like that." Kyungsoo gave a short, gravelly laugh. "This... this gemstone is one-third of my life's goal. And my goal is life. Minseok, you understand me. You don't like it, but you understand me."

The mage gave a nod, but without a single drop of pleasure. 

Kyungsoo continued. "I'm going to save Sehun with this gemstone. And I'm going to live. And I'm going to destroy Xiumin if he gets in my way." It drew chills down Luhan's body, hearing that voice, hearing his deadly resolve. Minseok had the other third. Would Kyungsoo stop at hurting him too, if Minseok didn't let him have it? 

Yixing's voice suddenly echoed amonst the party. "Careful what you promise, Kyungsoo. More is at stake than even your life if you try to wield a power stronger than your own."

Kyungsoo's lips turned upwards into a sneer. He spoke faster now, sharper, colder. "What kind of power are we talking about here? Yours? Minseok's? A templar's power? Mine, which is learned and not inherited, but far more advanced than I think even you know."

"You're no mage," said Yixing sadly.

"No. But I _am_  dying. And I'm dying so unnaturally it's left a residue even stronger than the Taint. You doubt my strength, Yixing?" 

With a wisdom which bespoke of his years, the older mage approached him, speaking softly, "No, Kyungsoo, I don't. Believe it or not, but I actually do worry about your life. You want to activate the well. I am here to tell you that alone, you won't be able to do it."

Kyungsoo's eyes flared, but his curiosity obviously piqued. "You are offering to help?"

"Not just him," said Minseok. "I as well."

Luhan didn't know what he was agreeing to, but he also said, "And me."

So softly it might have a been a hiss, Luhan heard Tao say, "And me." 

That left Jongdae, Suho, and Kris, all of whom stood about in various states of confusion, Jongdae's the greatest of all. 

Then, Tao began to chant. 

_"Here lies the abyss..... the well of all souls. And from these Emerald Waters doth life begin anew... Come to me my child, and I shall embrace you. In my arms lies eternity."_

Gently, the elf-turned-wolf-turned-elf sunk to his knees and whispered the canticle two more times as if in prayer. When he was done with that his lips began anew in another language, an elven language which Luhan could not understand and probably only Yixing could translate. That older elf, however, was not interferring, but he let the boy continue as the evening sun wore down in the sky. The snow had stopped somewhere during the time they had all been arguing. 

Minseok crept towards Luhan and silently fumbled for his hand. Even through their gloves, his warmth was appreciated, his presence desired. 

"What is he saying?" asked the templar.

Kyungsoo hadn't moved a muscle, but was staring fixedly at the place where Tao knelt. 

"I've always suspected it," said Minseok under his breath, "but I don't believe Tao is anywhere close to the age of which he appears. I think he's much older. I think he was a werewolf for a long, long time." 

After an age it seemed, which Luhan guessed was probably only mere minutes, Tao stopped his chanting prayers and stood up, dusting the snow from his knees. His trousers were damp, but he smiled once at the sky before peering almost casually at the circle of men. 

"I'm sorry. It has been so long since I said those prayers. My people, before I was separated from my clan by that curse, did not often recite the canticles of Andraste. But that one I know. And Kyungsoo, I know what is like to be so afflicted. I would help you in any way I can, but Yixing is right. It cannot be done alone. You seek the Well of Emerald Waters, something my people called the Footpath of Uthenera, the path that rings the immortal realm. It is a scary place, but beatiful."

"You have been there?" said Kyungsoo, with renewed optimism. 

"No."

"Then, you have...  _seen it?"_

Again Tao said, "No. I only know it exists. And that it cannot be visited lightly. It is sacred ground that must not be defiled. And right now, as I can feel, someone defiles it."

"Xiumin," said Kyungsoo, and it was no question. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sehun choked awake. Great hacking coughs, and a dire awareness that his windpipe was constrained. He thrashed, almost nothing moved. His limbs were either restrained or weakened, his entire body immobile. 

_Help... me..._  he panted. He could not speak. He opened his eyes, and could not see. He was blind. No, it was too bright for him to have become blind. He choked and thrashed again as fear fully entered his consciousness. He was alone, and restrained, and he could barely breathe. For a second, something wet splattered across his nose and hope surged through him as he imagined the warm humidity of Alistair's breath. 

Then he realized the moisture was too cold, too fresh, too pungeant.

But Sehun could still hear. All at once, as with the coming of this revelation, every sound seemed to hit him at once, and his entire body rocked with  _sound!_  Water droplets, and rushing, bubbling water, wind, and rustling leaves. He could practically _hear_ the texture all around him, the sounds of life, birds, insects, their caws and chirps magnified as the once sense left to Sehun threatened to overwhelm him, drown him, but all the same... called him back to life.

Sehun was alive. 

Sehun was alone. 

_Help... me..._  he tried again. Something squeaked. Sehun realized it must have been his voice. 

There was something around his neck. No, something tugging on his neck! 

Someone laughed. 

Someone snorted. 

Someone tut-tutted at Sehun's pitiful state. 

Which meant all of two things: one, that Sehun was not alone but two, that he was in danger. 

Where were Jongin, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun? Were they alive? Hurt? Dead somewhere? In the same state as Sehun? Where was Alistair? Why had the hound left them so suddenly? Had it been killed by giants? Had it run away? Was Minseok near, and that was why the hound was gone? 

The assailment of questions made his head suddenly pound. He stopped thinking. Pain shot up in spasms through his body, which was slowly becoming more and more aware of. Bound, tied, still immobile. A low whine leaked from his throat. Tears, or were they tears, crept from his tightly clenched eyelids. 

A sudden thought popped up. If he could cry, then perhaps he could see. He opened his eyes again, drawing the lids up as if they weighed the sum of his whole body weight. Blinding white light seared through the gap, and he shut them again. 

Where was he? And was there anybody coming to help?

He thought he heard a moan from somewhere to his left. Or it was it his right? 

So he was not alone. 

And yet the awareness that at least one person in front of him wanted him harm made his cry out. 

"Sehun, Sehun, you're doing so well? Hold on a little bit more, won't you? Help is on the way... Your help is on the way... Such a shame, they won't get here in time."

 

 


	43. The Showdown

It began in the place where the snow finally melt. 

"Here, stop," said Yixing. "Jongdae, come with me." 

A wave of  _something_  hit Minseok like a windstorm. His legs buckled, and his stomach churned. With eyelids quenched shut, he let the momentum run wash through him, then run off. An evil power, a hungry power, and the raw scent of innocence. This was definitely the place. Ahead Minseok could see nothing but the footpath disappearing into the trees. It was both like his vision when he'd touched the ring, and not. The colors were muted, the birds nonexistent. He could hear them, but also he could  _not_. 

"It's as I expected," he said.

As he threw out an arm, his hand was clasped. The templar's warm fingers threaded through his, palms sweaty but comforting. 

"What is?" asked Luhan. 

Minseok opened his eyes. "The Well of Emerald Waters. It's here alright, but not on this plane." 

"You think it's on the other side of the Veil?" asked Kyungsoo, his voice soft and low, but with an insistence in it that required knowledge, more knowledge that Minseok wished to to reveal.

Yixing answered him. "Oh no, not quite that far."

Kyungsoo's nod bespoke his irratance, but he did not press it. Instead, they stood as a group as Yixing and Jongdae disappeared to circumvent the area. Their footsteps brushed against the rocks and brush, and then they too disappeared. It was necessary, splitting up the party as they'd discussed. For in no way was their appraoch going to remain stealthy. Xiumin awaited them all.

"I will go first," said Minseok.

Also as they had planned. 

"You are sure about this?" asked Luhan.

Minseok shrugged. In truth, there was nothing he was sure about. He stood all on edge with his staff out and ready to duel. Luhan stood beside him, shield out and swinging his sword. Jongdae's twin blades had been sharpened the night before until they gleamed from helm to tip. Kris's large muscled body flexed in preparation, greatsword at his hip. Kyungsoo had his crossbow. Shoulder to shoulder they stood, waiting for the sign.

Minutes passed, maybe half an hour. Then Alistair growled, almost silently, and Jongdae appeared from where he had gone.

"Sehun is there, unconscious but alive. No sign of the others. Also, Xiumin is there. Undoubtedly with backup, but they are hidden. There will be magic done here tonight, Luhan, I hope you are ready!?" 

Minseok didn't need to look to know of the feeble smile spreading across the templar's face. 

"What about Tao?" he asked. 

"Right where he said he'd be," answered Jongdae. 

"Good," said the mage. He stared hard at the ground before looking back at the only dwarf who had braved their adventures almost since day one. "Suho, you know what to do, yes?"

The little man nodded. His face knotted in stress, but he looked resolved. More resolved almost than Minseok felt. 

"Let's do this."

 

 

 

 

Watching Minseok step through the trees, Luhan felt that quenching, searing pain encompassing his heart. Was this it? Was this what his life had been amounting to all this time? Only months ago had he left the comfort of his fellow templars, yet it felt like a lifetime. Anger burned in him, at Xiumin for drawing them here, at the well--whatever it was--just for existing. 

He took a step forward. Immediately, Jongdae put an arm to his shoulder holding him back. Luhan shook it off. 

"I have to stand beside him."

Jongdae smiled, like he understood. "I know. And you will. But let him have this moment first. It's his brother after all."

Kris nodded. "It was fate they stand together today."

"Fate has nothing to do with it," Luhan mumbled, and again stepped forward. Maybe he was a fool, but he would not so ignorant to pretend they might not die. "Let me go," he said to Jongdae. "I won't get in the way. I just need to listen." He also couldn't pretend he didn't hear Kyungsoo's whisper of "idiot" but Luhan didn't care. He pushed his way through the trees, hiding his body, listening ahead.

Something trickled through the brush. A light fog hovered over the ground. Then there were voices. 

"Minseok, brother. How are you? Looking well? You do look well." A laugh. 

"I have nothing to say to you, Xiumin, unless it involves Sehun's safety. You have drugged him. What spell is it?"

There was another laugh, a colder one. Luhan shuddered at the thought of how similar they might have sounded. He knew already that they looked alike, copies of each other in looks and voice. If only life hadn't corrupted the one, they might have been so close. Like twins. 

"You want to know all my tricks without even talking first? Are we not here to negotiate?" said Xiumin. 

Luhan crept even closer. He could see the back of Minseok's robes, knew that Xiumin stood somewhere before him but the foliage blocked his view. There was no sign of anything magical at all. If this was the place where the Well of Emerald Waters stood, it was well hidden. 

"Okay," said Minseok easily. "Let's negotiate." 

"The two gems for Sehun''s life."

Like a switch, Minseok's voice twisted. "No."

"Oh, so you don't care about him after all?" asked Xiumin. "Should I ask your other little friends? Perhaps _they_  will take the bargain?"

"They won't," Minseok insisted. "Especially if you won't also tell us what you've done to the others."

"The others..." Xiumin hummed. "You mean those two lazy humans and the idiot elf? They are, alive. For now."

"I'll give you one gemstone if you tell me where they are."

"Deal." 

Luhan held in his breath. This was  _not_  actually part of the plan. But Minseok was already unfolding something from the inside of his mage's robe. It was the pouch in which he'd wrapped the cursed ring. He tossed it forward. Xiumin retrieved it. 

"Tell your templar lover to step out of the shadows, brother. He irritates me, hiding there."  

Minseok startled, and Luhan cringed in shame. But he did as Xiumin suggested. Minseok said nothing to him as he approached. They stood side by side, and for the first time Luhan got a look at the two brothers at the same time. 

"We meet again," said Xiumin with a lazy, gummy smile.

The insinuation sent chills down Luhan's back. He was careful not to reveal that. 

"You don't need to talk to him," said Minseok. "And don't bother trying to come between us. We no longer keep any secrets."

Xiumin's slight frown was the only indication he might have been disappointed, but he shrugged it off. Instead he pawed at the pouch, gingerly unwrapping the cloth with a gloved hand until the ring was revealed. It glittered across the clearing. One streak of its light caught the sun at an angle and flashed against Luhan's eye. He squinted, then blinked for a moment. In that half second he could have sworn he was standing somewhere else... The image of that vision faded almost immediately. Luhan stared around himself, confused, for there was only dull grass and earth surrounded by trees and shrubberies. And in the center, behind some half dead bush, a lopsided well. It was low to the ground, ancient, innocuous. If Luhan had come across it on his own he would not have thought anything of it, just another artifact of a bygone era. 

Was there any way  _that_  was the actual well which had caused them so much grief? 

Beside it, partially hidden by its extending stone rim, was Sehun. He was covered almost head to toe in ropes which tied his limbs and forced him to curl inwardly. His face was mottled with bruises, several of the bindings at his wrists looked bloodied. He had likely struggled for a long time before losing consciousness, that or he'd been forcefully put to sleep. He looked small, terrifyingly vulnerable. Luhan knew, however, that in this moment he would not be allowed to get close to the boy until they'd had this scene. Minseok too, for the sake of Xiumin's little game, acted as if it didn't matter. 

"Head west about ten minutes. That's where you will find the others."

"Alive?" asked Minseok.

Xiumin smirked. "Why don't you go and find out. I'll wait here."

"And how about we trade for Sehun's life instead." As Xiumin was about to open his mouth, Minseok continued seemlessly. "You got to begin the last deal. How about one of mine this time? Release the boy, and.. for the sake of our shared blood, I will let you walk away." 

Luhan marveled how Minseok's voice did not tremble. And yet, before when they had traded ideas on how to come into this scene, it had. This was his brother, this was Xiumin, his older brother whom he'd grown up with, played with, loved for so many years. Luhan couldn't really understand. The relationship he had had with his older brothers was nothing in comparison. They were but figures, younger versions of his father, ages older than Luhan and they had never been close. But with Minseok, even if he couldn't forget the past, what Xiumin had done both to their family and to himself, there was still something about the way Minseok talked about him that said he  _cared_. 

"Are you really that sentimental, brother?" said Xiumin after a short spell of time. 

"If you're so curious, why don't you find out? _Brother_?" replied Minseok, again without pause. 

The tension of inevitable, impending battle clutched at Luhan's nerves. There was no way this ended without a fight. It's what they came to do. And Luhan might be dumb in love, stupid about Minseok, lax in his observational skills, and a little forgetful when it came to his own sense of danger, but there was one thing Luhan could do well, and that was wield a sword. 

A twig cracked on the ground behind them. Luhan didn't turn, but his knuckles tightened around his shield. On bended knees he readied his stance, twirled his sword around once, relaxing his wrist. He sensed more than saw the others lining up in a ring: Jongdae and Kris on his right, Kyungsoo on Minseok's left. There was no way Xiumin let them take Sehun without this fight. 

On the other side of the clearing, similar shapes appeared in the shadows where they stayed, just out of range. To Luhan's visual they remained fuzzy but in his core he sensed the raw power of magic, of maleficar, the band of apostate mages Xiumin had no doubt cultivated over the years.

"Seems you've lost a few friends," said Xiumin with a chuckle. "Tell me, where's your glorious mentor, the dragon?"

Minseok didn't flinch. "Around, maybe. We haven't seen him lately." 

"Is that so? Too bad..." 

There was no way Xiumin believed their lie, and no way Minseok expected him to. On the table with all their cards laid out, there would be few surprises between brothers. Luhan only hoped their one twist would work they way they hoped. Because if it didn't, this might truly become their end. 

"Who goes first then?" asked Xiumin?

Minseok smiled. 

The first crackle of magic ripped through the air. Luhan couldn't tell from which mage it originated, but both Minseok and his brother were already in motion, ducking below the fray and trading spells. Adrenaline hit Luhan like an explosion. From deep in his gut he voiced a great shout. Then he flew across the clearing. The shout drew the maleficars' attention onto him instead of his friends. With shield up, he felt their spells hit and bounce back. One almost knocked him to his knees, but Luhan pressed on until he faced his first opponent face to face. A mage smaller than himself leered at him before casting a fireball. He ducked, but hairs on Luhan's forehead were singed. A second later he tore his sword against robes and flesh. The man dropped to the ground with a heaving, gurgling groan. Luhan thrust around to see the rest of the battle. 

Kris and Jongdae were already surrounded, dueling back to back against as they twirled and spun against the incoming attacks. Kyungsoo was already by Sehun's side, but hiding behind the well where he could barely be seen. The effects of his crossbow though were evident. One soared across the clearing with such precision it nicked Xiumin on the outside of his ear. The mage frowned and wielded towards the offender, hand coming away bloody where he clutched his head. It was a good distraction for Minseok, but the mage barely missed Xiumin with a glancing blow of magic. The fail didn't stop him at all. Luhan watched entranced as his body darted here and there, flying towards his enemies, ducking when they returned a blast. There were two more maleficar behind Xiumin's form moaning on the ground, though the brother was in no way severely injured. Luhan charged towards them. 

"Minseok!" screamed Xiumin, still sending off frighteningly powerful blows. "You're outnumbered, you know that, right?" 

Jongdae echoed a painful scream and went down right at that moment, his leg and most of his right side immobilized by a crackling energy which danced angrily against his skin before fizzling out. Kris crouched down immediately before him. Then he too was hit with a minor version of the same spell. Luhan shifted gears and got there a second too late, threw up his shield and let out another raging bellow. He dropped his sword, closed his eyes and from deep within his chest drew upon the templar's magic which would dispell the enemy mages' magic. It burst like a sonic boom, relieving the area in front of him. Three of the maleficar were thrown back by its power. A few more just out of range merely topped to the ground, clutching their chests with clenched fists as they ached and recovered.

"Are you alright?" Luhan whispered to the two warriors.

Jongdae coughed. Kris moaned, but his deep grumble was assent enough that they were alive, although mildly powerless. There was an echoing screech descending from the skies. 

Luhan looked up, scanning the treeline as he waited on backup. Seconds later the forest behind Xiumin lit up in a swath of fire. The trees themselves turned to cinder in  as the roaring fire blinded their eyes and sent gusts of hot air across the clearing. Men screamed and fled from the opposite treeline, drawing more of the hidden maleficar into the clearing. Luhan counted another dozen, including some who were not even mages, but rogue bandits with curiously lifeless eyes. 

"What in Andraste's bones are those?!" cried Jongdae as he whimpered. 

Half of the men were lit up and on fire, yet their bodies continued to move, their arms still wielded weaponry, their mouths continued to shriek. 

"Necromancy," Luhan gulped. They watched as a few of the burning bodies disinigrated into to ash before collapsing around Xiumin's feet. More at least of the animated corpses continued to function. Xiumin cursed and spun around, inciting the bodies with another wave of cruel, dark magic, before he turned again and faced down the great dragon, whose name was Yixing, who came to a thunderous landing in the very forefront of the burning forest. 

"And, there you are," said Xiumin, leering ominously to a beast any sane person would be wise to run from. Something about his tone send a chill through Luhan's body. It was not merely the words of a mage who was ready to face it, but a mage who was ready to  _deal_ with it. 

"Minseok!" Kyungsoo's warning charged across the battleground. 

The small little man had been busy in between shooting off bolts. He had Sehun mostly untied and cradled across his lap. At first it was not immediately understood what warning he was shouting about. Before coming into battle, they had guessed Xiumin would not have left the necklace on Sehun's person but would have already acquired it. If that was Kyungsoo's message... but, Kyungsoo wasn't looking at Sehun. Instead he shouted at something to the side of the clearing.

Minseok twirled around, scowling in fright at the sudden appearance of a new group of maleficar, all with staffs or hands raised, each of them directed towards the dragon. All at once a great spew of ice magic bombarded the dragon. Yixing howled in anger. His great body writhed, scales flexing, some deflecting the magic, others incorporating it. In his core was a body of fire. The ice hit him especially hard, and though for a while it would not be enough to immobilize or kill him, if he took enough hits... it just might do such damage. 

All of them, Minseok, Luhan, Jongdae, and Kris had to suddenly duck when Yixing let out a reverberating blast of fire over their heads. Most of it hit the frost wall held up by the mages, though a few faltered. It was not enough to stop them. The mages redoubled their efforts but before they released their magic, Yixing hunched, burly legs digging into the earth. He took off once more into the air in the midst of a flurry of icy magic. They could not detain him, but Yixing's presence in the air meant the others had lost their support on the ground. 

"We must take out those mages," Jongdae hissed. He tried to move, yet his leg would not support him. 

"Yeah, try not to take them out so fast you don't leave enough for the rest of us," said Kris blankly, his lips set in a crooked grin.

Jongdae actually smiled. "Was that sarcasm? From a qunari? Why Kris, I think I'm actually... touched."

"No time for this," huffed Luhan. Minseok and Xiumin were still dueling together at a great range. Much of Minseok's left arm was blackened from some costly blow. Blood trickled from his temple. Xiumin was starting to look the same, although both mages were nowhere near worn to their limits. The problem was that Xiumin had backup, and Minseok had none now except Luhan and Kyungsoo, the latter of whom was protecting Sehun, and Luhan Jongdae's and Kris's injured bodies.

"Get to the treeline," Luhan told them. "Protect yourselves, wait for help." 

From somewhere in the distance, he heard a howl, but in the mess of the duel, and the mages' skyward attacks, and Yixing's thunderous, enraged dragon circling somewhere overhead, Luhan couldn't tell if that was their sign or not. He met eyes with Kris and the two warriors shared a nod. Then the qunari heaved, gathering his remaining energy, and began dragging himself and Jongdae to safety. 

The mages whom Luhan had overpowered earlier were beginning to sit up. Luhan drew once again into the core of his being, and unleashed another blast of magical dispellment. A few of the maleficar toppled back to the ground, but more of them this time had been ready for him. They bowed in the gust but did not fall. It was likely too that Luhan's magic was less powerful, and it would continue to become so each time he expended it. 

"Minseok, cover me!" Luhan shouted, as he dashed towards the well to Kyungsoo and Sehun's side. 

The mage nodded, grimacing as he too fell back onto the spot where the two lay. Xiumin let him retreat, seemingly not interested in their proximity to the well. His corpse soldiers at his heels, he advanced slowly on the four of them, as if he had all the time in the world. Abovehead, Yixing reappeared and took out more of the dead bandits, Xiumin shielding himself from the surge of fire. For his efforts though Yixing barely dodged another wind of icy magic. His tail and one of his hind legs caught the brunt of it, and the dragon howled again in anger, soaring wildly out of control. 

They heard the booming thud of the dragon toppling to the ground somewhere farther away. Luhan cringed, knowing the dragon would be grounded until it could recover, knowing that they now had no one here to help them, at least for the moment. He held his shield level with his head as spell after spell bombarded them, protecting himself and the two others, and then Minseok once the mage landed heavily by their side as well. More blood spewed from his head wound. His staff arm was chapped with splinters, the staff itself bowing from a nearly brutal snap. His other arm hung as if dead at his side. 

"We're done for if..." said Luhan. He grunted then from another magical bombardment. 

"Shut it and keep that shield up," said Kyungsoo without mirth. "We still have one weapon at our disposal." He was looking at the bracelet which he'd already removed from his ankle. The third and last gemstone that would open the well lay on his palm, clutched and tangled between fingers, dirtied and sweat-slicked from their battle. 

Minseok hissed. "You cannot," he said, still radiating spell after spell, everything he had in his arsenal, at the oncoming attackers. 

Luhan heard Xiumin issuing orders fo the frost mages to find the dragon. They could not expect help on that front. More of his own band of mages were either dead or injured, and the corpses were steadily falling to their feet. Still they were overpowering. 

"I've got to stop Xiumin. That's the only way," said Minseok with gritted teeth. 

"How?" asked Luhan. He was already drawing upon his magic for a third and possibly last time. Whatever he did after that would be too costly to his body. 

Kyungsoo was shaking his head. "You won't be able to. Let me."

"Let you what?" asked Minseok.

He glanced back and frowned. Luhan too gasped. Kyungsoo stared at the well beside them, at the gem in his hand. He was out of bolts for the crossbow; he truly had only one option. 

"No," said Minseok. "You cannot."

"But it would work," the other man replied.

"You don't  _know_ that!" 

"No. But I do know we will die if I don't try it."

Minseok huffed. "You don't know  _that_ either." He was breathing heavily, his energy like Luhan's almost at the breaking point. 

In the distance there was another howl, followed by more. Backup was on the way. And Luhan knew that Kyungsoo's determination was only because he wanted whatever power lay in that well so much that he would risk everything to try it. 

Minseok's staff finally snapped. He'd been using it like a shield. They heard Xiumin laughing. 

Luhan sighed. "Minseok, at your word, I can disarm Xiumin if no one else. If that buys us enough time to..." To do whatever it was Minseok and Kyungsoo had been cooking up all this time. 

"I don't... It might not..." Minseok stuttered. He was now directing raw energy from his palms, or at least from the good one he still had. "Okay, fine. On my mark though, and not a moment sooner. As soon as... as soon as we're gone, you are to stay with Sehun. Get him to the trees if you can. Get him to Jongdae and Kris. Wait for Tao. Don't go anywhere unless it's absolutely necessary." He stopped, pulled Luhan's shield to cover them directly and stared right into his eyes. "You stay alive, do you understand?" His voice warbled. If there had been time, if this had been another place, Luhan might have kissed him. 

"And you," he said in return, voice hard with emotions. 

Minseok smiled, and it was almost enough. Then he looked at Kyungsoo, they passed the bracelet between them, and whispered, "Let's do this." 

The mage sprang suddenly into action, standing up and shouting, "Xiumin!" 

He waited until his brother was looking. Xiumin actually stopped and smiled pitifully, condecendingly, at the battered mage standing amidst a barrage of embittered magic. 

"Minseok?"

"Kill me and you lose the whereabouts of the last gem," he challenged.

Xiumin's smile barely faltered. "Is that so?" 

Kyungsoo was rustling at Luhan's side, slipping closer to the edge of the well behind Minseok's back. Luhan stared pointedly at Minseok's only good hand, waiting for the sign. 

Xiumin, however, continued talking. "I think it's probably not so secret though. You have it. Or your darkspawn friend there has it. Or does Luhan have it?" He cocked his head in curiosity. "Either way, you're so nicely gathered in one spot. It'll be easy to take it from you." Slowly, he advanced towards them. Luhan kept staring, waiting for the mark. He closed one eye, clenched at his bones, seizing every ounce of remaining power that he had to give. 

"You're done for, brother."

Minseok smiled. "You keep calling me that, but you've never yet called me by my name. Why is that? Too scared to remember that beyond our shared blood, we were once good friends, close siblings in heart and name. You doted on me, I recall. I chased after you all my childhood, and you let me do it. You protected me wherever we went. You--" 

Xiumin sneered. "You were spoiled, and a brat. That's what  _I_ actually remember. And don't think you can buy yourself any time with this little heart to heart chat."

There was a loud plunge as Kyungsoo disappeared into the well. Xiumin froze at the sound of it. Minseok's hand jerked. Luhan let loose the dispelling force he'd been holding inside. A horrible cry wreaked from his gut as every limb, every muscle, even inch of skin, even the hair on his head  _streaked_  through with magic, the last of it he had in him. Xiumin fell to his knees. Even Minseok caught a twinge of it and went down. He crawled along the ground, bracelet obscured in the palm of his bad hand. 

"You want the last gemstome, Xiumin, you better go after it. Leave your magic here though." He choked out a laugh. 

Xiumin howled fiercely and drove himself back to his feet, stalking towards them. Luhan was already dragging Sehun away from the scene. 

Minseok beckoned his brother, almost politely. "Two stones against one. Weren't you just dying to see its powers for yourself?"

His brother scowled, continuing towards the well. When he stood before Minseok, he wrenched down and heaved him up. Together, both dirtied and exhausted, they were nearly indistinguishable from one another. 

"Only if you go with me. See how your friends fare on their own without you to protect him." He issued a sneer at Luhan, creeping away with the unconscious Sehun. At Jongdae and Kris who would be semi-noticeable beyond the treeline, exhausted and injured almost til death. There had been no sound from Yixing now for a long while. 

Then, even more pronounced than when he'd first heard them, the sound of howls. Of wolves, and a man, and maybe one fierce mabari hound. The scattered and worn out maleficar looked askance in the direction of the commotion, at the next wave of oncoming defenders. Xiumin looked practically furious.

"A second ambush, brother?  You almost impress me--"

But with a strength of energy no one had thought he possessed, Minseok turned the tables, flung his brother around, and tossed him into the well. Then he stood over the edge of it, with the bracelet hanging from his hand, staring into the depths. "No, brother, we shall soon see how impressive you are when faced with something even greater than yourself." He looked back momentarily, grimaced, then smiled at Luhan, a sad pitiful shade of his emotions. Then, whispering over the well in a strangely eery, otherworldly voice that was nothing like his own: _"Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls. From these emerald waters doth life begin anew. Come to me, my child, and I shall embrace you. In my arms lies eternity..."_ He jumped in after them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy!!! That took me a long time to write. FYI there will be ONE more chapter, before a short series of epilogues. And that next chapter really ought to be out this weekend, as I'm halfway done with it now. <333


	44. The Well of Emerald Waters

At first it was dark. Kyungsoo's eyes acclimated it to like he was  _made for this_. Every memory of living in the shadows, of the Deep Roads. He fingers clenched around nothing but hard stone and rock, dirt. He remembered water. His clothes were soaked through. He had jumped into the well and fallen a long while until he found water. He had floundered for a moment, bobbing on the surface with frantic splashes. Something had clutched at him, some inward drive to let go, to drown. To sink. He exhaled, slowly, finally. 

And when he awoke it was in darkness. A darkness already growing less dark. Faint light tugged at the corners of his eyes, until it brightened gradually. He was in a room, a cavern devoid of life, or greenery. He blinked, and the place came alive! Vibrant plant life and animal sounds, a humming as of bees, chirping birds. Vivid flowers came into focus. He was standing on a path, and in the distance there was the gurgling of water pouring out of the ground. 

He had made it.

Kyungsoo had finally made it.

For all his visions, for all his dreams, he was here now, standing inside the well,  _at_ the well. His feet hastened towards the streaming water, tripping every couple of steps. He landed once on his hands and knees, and when he stood up it was to gasp at the suddenly dead and dying foliage he'd touched. The greenery shrunk around his own darkness, fading like the grey marks he'd left on Sehun's skin, but this time unto death. A patchwork of death was strewn out from under him and he scampered back onto his feet, almost paralyzed with fear. 

He had come here, and without any of the gemstones. Tears tugged at him for daring to trust another soul. What if he was left here. What if Minseok persuaded him into here only so he could die. Could he really trust the mage? Could he trust anyone? 

 _He is coming,_ something whispered into his ear, _in_ his ear. Minseok.

At first he could not compute it. Who is coming. Where is he coming. He sped up along the path towards the water, careful not to touch anything, although the way was overgrown with foliage and flowers and low hanging tree branches, more than one of which shriveled at his touch. He should have known this path already. He had been here so many times. Kyungsoo turned with the path, now marked with stones, now marked with statues with etchings long since indecipherable, all the way to the sanctuary, to the open temple crumbling from ruin from whence the stream overflowed. 

At last he turned to find it. Kyungsoo sighed with relief. It looked the same as every other time, only move vibrant, more real. With trembling knees he stumbled to the edge of the fountain. Here at least his hands left no mark on the stone. He sighed again, breath evening out now that he had made it. All at once he felt the drumming sound like a heartbeat. A moment later there was another one, then another. Three heartbeats echoing through the chambers of this fantastical world. The gems had been reunited, they were coming. 

Kyungsoo looked idly into the waters. Large bubbles flowed from the center, sending concentric rights outwards. By the time they reached the edge, only the tiniest bubbles remained. Kyungsoo stared at them until they burst against the stone rim. One popped before his eyes, and in that heartbeat he had a vision of above. It was Jongdae, crying in pain with Kris hovering uselessly by his side, their weapons gone, encircled by mages. A werewolf broke past the ring of mages, scattering them easily to stand in vicious defense of the man and qunari. 

Kyungsoo blinked, and saw another bubble. This time featuring Tao shouting maniacally as he spurred on the charging werewolves. Another bubble, Yixing, with a broken, limp body covered with frostbite, alone in the forest, until Alistair appeared at his side, licked his cheek, then lay down to warm him. Yet another vision showed him Suho, bravely scampering through the forest in search of their missing party members. In the spell of the vision, Kyungsoo watched him trip over a body and discover the three. Jongin was already awake, sobbing as he cradled the elf against his chest. Chanyeol's face remained dazed. The last bubble showed him Luhan, placing a still sleeping Sehun at the feet of the werewolves, and Tao sinking down to cup his chin and check his pulse. Then Luhan disappeared from the vision. Kyungsoo looked around and saw him in another bubble, approaching the well, just before it burst. 

From behind him came the sound of footsteps. Kyungsoo dragged himself away from edge of the pool and sat up, waiting. 

Two voices argued with each other. Two bodies, brothers, holding each other up, rounded the corner of the path and emerged from the foliage. At first glance Kyungsoo couldn't distinguish one from another. Their bodies appeared equally marred, with identical bruises and scrapes, and singed hair, but their mages' robes were similarly soaked through from the effects of the well. Neither had enough energy to carry himself completely as they stumbled and tumbled to the ground before the well and Kyungsoo. Still they wrestled, but half-heartedly. If Kyungsoo hadn't seen them earlier trading near deathly blows, he would have called them fond. And maybe, even after all that had happened, they still were so?

"Min...seok?" he asked with small voice, the muscles of his face becoming taut with bubbling anxiety. 

The mage Kyungsoo recognized as his companion all this time, looked at him. He dragged himself onto his palms, skin blistered and one arm blackened with foul magic. His brother barely moved, but rolled onto his back with his head angled to look at them. Malice filled his eyes and his lips formed a sneer, but he didn't move. 

"Give me the gems, Xiumin," said Minseok to the other. 

The maleficar laughed, still without moving. Minseok tackled him, and the wrestling match continued. 

Kyungsoo crawled to their side, but the second he reached for Xiumin, the mage bristled in anger and a short burst of magical energy sizzled through the air. Both Kyungsoo and Minseok fell backwards, scowling. 

"What are you doing?" asked Kyungsoo, glaring between both mages. "Is this a game?"

Xiumin laughed again, humorlessly. Minseok grimaced. "No it's not," he said, "but my dear brother here wants to make it one." 

"I'll give you the gems over my dead body," said Xiumin. 

"And that might be easily arranged," Minseok replied. He sighed and cradled his injured arm, giving only a cursory examination of their surroundings. 

"You remember this place, well enough, right?" asked Kyungsoo. 

The mage nodded. "Indeed. Looks the same, sounds the same,  _feels_  just as evil."

Here Kyungsoo shook his head. "It's not though."

"Not what?"

"Evil."

Minseok tossed his head. "Maybe to you it doesn't feel that. Don't let it fool you though. The well wants to be used. It craves its lifeblood." He paused and mused, "Yixing should have been here." 

"Why?" asked Xiumin. "You think he's not as tempted as the rest of us? You still think he's some brave soul, wiser than all the rest."

"He's wiser than you." 

Xiumin snorted. "Oh, he's a sage alright. But just as twisted. How do you think he acquired all those powers of his? You think just any benevolent elven mage can turn into a dragon? You think just any wise old man can live for hundreds of years? You don't think there's a reason I was his pupil?"

Minseok didn't respond, but a small worm of fear came to life inside Kyungsoo's gut. 

"Perhaps it's best he isn't here," he said. What he didn't add is that he could not believe Yixing wanted to help him, Kyungsoo, out of all other possibilities. He looked at the well, at the seemingly peaceful ringlets of water swirling from its center fountain. From here he could no longer see into the bubbles, so he had no idea what might be happening above. (Was it even above? Or, another plane of existence as Yixing had implied?) 

What he said was, "Enough bickering. Kill each other if you must, but I _will_ succeed here today."

Kyungsoo's voice was stern, he was proud to note. It didn't wobble, and he didn't tremble like he was wont to do. For years now this well had been his dream, his desire, and his very last chance. Out of the darkness of his remote childhood, into the deep roads, sickened with the Taint, it might very well be the last thing he did. 

Minseok observed him carefully, the mage folding his legs under him to sit up. He did not reach for his brother, who likewise hauled himself up. 

"You promised to help me," Kyungsoo reminded him. 

Minseok's lips twitched. "I did."

"You will keep that promise now." 

This time he inclined his head. "I will." 

Xiumin sniffed. "And have you told him how it works?"

Minseok smiled. "He knows how it works." Then, more softly, "He's known even longer than you or I."

The maleficar's eyes narrowed to a point, cheeks tightening from glee. "Then I shall be very happy to see you sacrifice yourself, brother, all for this... stranger. Tell me, have you no thought for your lover above?"

Minseok frowned, but did not deny he thought of it. Kyungsoo held his breath.  

"It's my choice," said the mage. 

Xiumin's eye contact wavered for half a second, but he spoke with deadly acuity. "Is it?" Minseok nodded. "Then shall we do this? Give me the gem. Let's give the well what wants, huh?"

At this Minseok turned to his brother and glared. "I shall drink from it. How about you give  _me_  the gems." 

Xiumin laughed. From his pocket he pulled out the two he carried, the necklace he'd stolen off Sehun, and Changmin's cursed ring, previously carried by Minseok. He tossed the ring to Kyungsoo who caught it with an unsteady hand. 

"Fine then," said Xiumin. "Three have gathered, three shall see it through." He wasn't looking at the others but at the inlaid gemstone in the necklace he held. Kyungsoo and Minseok too each stared at the stones in their hand. 

"Well, brother?" continued the maleficar. "Think you've got it in you to save us both?"

"What does he mean?" asked Kyungsoo, suddenly confused and also afraid. 

"And here I thought you were the expert," said Xiumin. "Must have been wrong." He chortled and Kyungsoo's doubts rose prominently to the forefront of his mind. Yet even still Xiumin seemed preoccupied with the stone, with the well. He was no longer thinking truly of the others but perhaps only of what might happen soon.

Minseok answered him. "There's a reason you don't just take any one person into the temple with you."

Xiumin hummed. "Yes, must be a strong one... like you. I always knew perhaps... you might be here for me."

The brothers looked at each other with equal measure of distrust and reconciliation. "You presumed much," said Minseok.

"I presumed rightly," replied the other. 

Kyungsoo perceived the scene growing beyond his comprehension. "What do you mean?" he insisted again. To Minseok he practically snarled, "You said you would help me! _Me,_ and not this... _thing_!"

To which Minseok shouted back, "This  _thing_  is my brother, and if I can save him the same as you, I will do it!" 

"Save him from what?" 

No one answered. Minseok appeared chastened, Xiumin was silent. Kyungsoo clutched at his gemstone and stared at the well, wondering if after all... it could grant anything, like in the tales. 'In my arms lies eternity,' he hummed to himself, because really... he didn't want or need actual eternity. Just life itself. And he would not share that with someone else, not after all this time. 

"What are you saving him from?" he asked again, quietly and with deadly precision. 

A twig snapped in the distance. Three pair of eyes turned sharply in its direction, for above the steady bubbling of running water came the cursing of another human being. Kyungsoo fumbled with the gem in his hand at the same time Xiumin lurched off the ground, rushing towards the well.

"Activate it!" He shouted. "Now!"

Without knowing why, Kyungsoo moved into action. Only Minseok hesitated a bare second, his gaze still on the path from which they had come. A moment later, to no one's surprise, Luhan emerged. He was drenched head to toe like all the rest, but his brow was also sweaty and streaked with mud and dirt. His templars robes were shredded unrecognizable, armor thrown down somewhere between the battle scene and now. He was panting, eyes darting wildly about the well and the three people assembled there. He stumbled towards Xiumin first, then realized his error and fell upon the ground before the other mage's feet.

"Minseok..." he croaked. "What are you... you said you might..."

"Luhan," said the mage. His voice warbled, the sound half caught somewhere in the back of his throat. He was backing away from the templar. Kyungsoo forced himself to turn away from the two and focus on the well. Xiumin was already in position, waving frantically for Kyungsoo to hurry up. 

"Luhan, I have to, you've  _got_  to understand," said Minseok.

And Kyungsoo understood only one thing: that if Minseok was a sacrifice, no way was Luhan going to let that happen. How much had he heard? Kyungsoo refused to stop and find out. He held the gem and stared at the other mage who was unwittingly an ally for the very first time. Xiumin's eyes were hooded, but his grimace was one of desperation as he fumbled above a small pedestal on one end of the well. Kyungsoo looked and saw a similar one further away. He rushed towards it, noting that there was indeed a third one close to where Minseok stood. If only he could reach it. 

"What kind of sacrifice?!" Luhan was shouting. 

Kyungsoo's heart pounded. His fingers trembled. He slammed his gem onto the pedestal, expecting something remarkable, but it only glowed. Xiumin's too shimmered faintly under the sunlight. They needed the third stone. 

"Minseok!" shouted Xiumin. 

All heads turned in his direction. Minseok's expression was pained, but he continued walking backwards, faltering only when Luhan regained his legs and came after him. The chase was slow, tortured. Kyungsoo had no time for their dramatics. The gem under his hand was beginning to grow warm, not to the point of being uncomfortable, but the temperature was increasing. By the look on Xiumin's face, he too was realizing this. He shouted again, frantically. And Kyungsoo wondered idly for the first time if there wasn't something the maleficar wanted so badly he might actually die for it. Because Kyungsoo knew that feeling. He knew it very well...

"Luhan, I'm sorry," said the mage.

Then he made a dash for the last pedestal, slammed the gemstone upon it and before their eyes began to chant. All three of the stones glowed bright, and a link burst magically between them. Kyungsoo felt it soaring through him, up from his hands which held it in place and through his body. It was life! And desire! Like the burning of the sun but it was warm and not painful, comforting, and hopeful... His skin tingled. He let his eyes close and roll back in his head. Who knew if the memories floating through his mind were something the well conjured or if Kyungsoo was just that nostalgic. But he saw his brother, the apostate, returning from his earliest adventures with a smile on his face and life in his eyes. In the next moment, he saw him dead, as only Kyungsoo had seen... far into the Deep Roads. 

And Kyungsoo refused to join him. 

"Minseok!" he cried, adding his voice to Xiumin's demands. 

He saw himself, young and destitute, an orphan, stumbling along. He witnessed himself being found by the hooded man who was not a man, and who was not in fact even alive. Gratitude mixed with hate, ripping an actual snarl from his throat. Kyungsoo screamed and the power surged through him again, stealing his eyes but accentuating the other senses. His skin was on fire, and through his ears rushed the sound of many waters. 

 _Come to me my child..._  said a voice from that void.

"Yes...." whispered Kyungsoo. He answered the well, and he thought about life. He thought about death too for knew knew this wasn't the end. Thunder crackled about them, an explosion waiting to burst. Kyungsoo braced himself and knew to hang on. He screamed, and it was deep and unearthly. It lengthened and grew afraid but he would not, could not stop it.

_Come to me my child, and I will embrace you. In my arms lies--_

 

 

 

 

 

Then in an instant, everything stopped. 

Kyungsoo's voice was the only thing, screaming into a silence as black as the void itself. The force of it knocked him back, upsetting the pedestal and he went skidding half a body's length away. Something was wrong...

"No!" echoed another's voice.

Kyungsoo tried to scramble, recognizing that this wasn't right. That he had to get up. He had to right the pedestal, the gem now lay on the ground. But his body moved as through soup and his limbs wouldn't cooperate. He was all at once gangly and light. His body would not be controlled. Kyungsoo blinked and looked around, shocked and now afraid at what he saw, for it was the same scene, the same well. But unlike the transition between the world above and the ruined temple, this was same temple but now  _truly_  in another plane. 

This, was the Fade. 

The echo of the well's power encircled them like a haze. Pink streaked with purple tinged with blue and green flowed from each of the ruined pedestals, connecting Kyungsoo with Minseok and Xiumin so that he felt their uncertainty; he felt their fear. 

"What... what have I done?" asked another voice, even smaller. 

Luhan knelt beside Minseok who was moaning and clutching his head, sitting up and failing to do so like Kyungsoo had already tried. The only difference was the gemstone was not still by its pedestal. It was in Luhan's hands. 

"You... you...." said Xiumin softly, accusingly. He moaned and could not make his tongue say more. 

Static crackled through the well's halted power, images of people, of bodies, some standing, some crouching. One flashed nearby and Kyungsoo jolted to see Sehun lying on the ground just as he'd last seen him in the bubbling of the well. The static crackled again, and Suho appeared on his other side. Then he watched with great trepidation as one by one all the members of their long travelling, rag tattled party, summoned by the well's magic, appeared in the Veil. 

"Luhan," whispered Minseok sadly. "What have you done..."

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. I said this chapter would be the end, but alas... there'll be a final "finale" before a... surprise epilogue/ending. ^^
> 
> THANK YOU THOUGH TO EVERYBODY WHO HAS BEEN WITH ME SINCE THE BEGINNING OR WHENEVER YOU STARTED READING! I PROMISE THE LAST CHAPTERS ARE GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!!!!! XD
> 
> Please, drop a comment or come visit me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ShineALightRose). I even got [Curious Cat!](https://curiouscat.me/ShineALightRose)


	45. The Fade

_What have you done..._

_What have you done...?_

"What have I done...?"

Luhan stared at the gemstone, expecting it to curse him, to poison him, to at least knock him out as he'd seen it do before. He hadn't really thought this through. He only knew that Minseok could not be asked to sacrifice his life. He, Luhan, would not allow it. Disrupting the power spell building around the well had been instinctual, but this... 

"We're in the Fade." 

Luhan looked up, shocked. When had everybody gathered?! He saw Kris and Jongdae who were merely dazed. They sat together until the assassin spotted Suho, at which he promptly crawled towards him. 

"Are you okay?"

The dwarf nodded. Behind him crouched Chanyeol who was already on his knees and fighting the distortion of planes. He tripped and stumbled, then tried again. Closer to Minseok was Jongin and Baekhyun. The elf cradled his own head in pain. Jongin held him while leaned over and wretched into the grass. Neither looked great but they were alive. 

"Sehun," Luhan gasped, seeing the boy still laying unconscious. Only Kyungsoo matched him in fear and intensity. Before Luhan had even time to compute what he'd done, where they were, and what was happening, Kyungsoo was scrambling towards him. The power of the well arced wherever he went, bending through space but holding strong. Kyungsoo ignored it. 

"He's _still_ like this? What exactly happened to him?! Is he alright?" He pulled the sleeping boy into his lap, eyes large with worry. Across the well he saught out the maleficar and shouted, "what did you  _do_ to him!?" 

Xiumin moaned but did not move. "Maker, will you chill out? He's fine."

"He's clearly  _not_  fine," Kyungsoo accused. 

"He's sleeping," said another voice, the same one who'd said they were in the Veil. 

"Yixing?" asked Kyungsoo, lips trembling and precariously close to crying. Fury raged out of both eyes. 

"He'll be fine. It's just a little magic," he replied. The elf dragon mage looked terrible. His skin was a mottled mess of burnt ash and frost magic. Blood flowed freely from several wounds. He was, however, the only one who seemed completely mobile. He walked as one not troubled by the Veil. "Get up," he said to Luhan. "Give me the gemstone." 

"What?" said Luhan. 

Behind Yixing, Minseok's eyes grew wide in concern. It was enough that Luhan suddenly didn't want to relinquish it. 

"No. Why?" 

Yixing sighed. "Because you've already caused enough problems. Give me the stone and we can fix it."

Minseok was shaking his head like he didn't understand. Luhan pocketed the stone and began crawling backwards away. Yixing did not insist upon it, nor did he move  close enough to snatch it away. He stood instead with the confidence of an elf who knew he'd eventually get his way. But for the first time Luhan thought he looked old, and tired, and maybe just a little bit greedy. Echoes of snatches of an earlier conversation drifted back to him from when he'd been fighting his way down the path to the well. Something Xiumin had said, something Minseok hadn't answered.

"Why do you need to fix it. Tell us where we are," Luhan demanded. "What happened? What is this place?"

"The Fade of course," said Yixing. "You messed with its magic. You drew us all here, Luhan, all of us, into this place. But look... its power is still unbounded."

Not far from Xiumin, Tao sat up and shook out his head. He glanced up, and Luhan followed his gaze to the circular power structure ringing the well. It was still intrisically linked to the three who'd set up the gemstones, glowing brightly around Minseok, Xiumin, and Kyungsoo. Except a few strands of it extended outwards, clinging to the stone in Luhan's pocket, and some of it clung to Luhan himself. 

What exaclty had he been thinking? _Had he_ brought everyone here? Even Alistair whined pitifully as his paws dug into the earth, his sharp little barks the only hint that the animal was confused and disoriented. And  _Luhan_  had done this? Was he really so intangibly connected to this circle of friends, this group of travelers, that even here at the end... through a mishandling of the well's magic, he'd summoned them all together. 

"I did this. So I'll finish it," said Luhan with a confidence he wasn't entirely sure he could back up. 

"You don't even know what this," the elf replied. 

Luhan refused to flush, though unfortunately, that was true. "Explain it then."

Incredibly, Yixing stepped back. He walked towards the well and waved his hand towards the power circle, as if sampling its magic. Nothing happened. He frowned, seeming almost disappointed. "Minseok can explain it."

All eyes turned upon the other mage. Luhan didn't miss Minseok's continuing confusion over Yixing's reaction, but soon enough he pulled himself together and faced each of the group in turn before settling on his brother, and then the well. 

"It grants wishes. That much should be obvious."

"Whose wishes?" asked Luhan. "At what price?" He already knew, or at least he thought he knew. Everything now hinged on Minseok's answer. 

"It grants life, or some form of it. Hard to say exactly what kind. Kyungsoo's studied it more than me." Kyungsoo shook his head, as if to deflect answering. So Minseok continued. Luhan could not tell if MInseok had learned this from somewhere or if he'd only recently acquired the knowledge from someone, but he spoke as if the subject was distasteful to him. "For the ones who activate it, it searches their hearts and finds the wish. Then it grants it. The true wish, and not just what a person says aloud, or thinks in his head. We probably won't know until afterwards, what exactly it did." He turns and stares directly at Xiumin. "And that is why it shouldn't be messed with. Because who knows the consequences!" 

"Too late now," echoed his brother, and he was completely without remorse. 

Luhan interrupted them. "I asked about its price."

"Its price?" Minseok smiled wryly. "Also unknown."

Someone gasped. Luhan heard it, agreed with the sound. But then he turned and saw it. Rising from the center of the pool was a cup, no bigger than a hand's width, utterly ordinary by itself. Some of the strands of magic from broke free from their circle, seeking it out, connecting and intertwining. The cup crackled with energy but remained intact. Luhan's heart nearly dropped from his chest when he saw Minseok flinch.

This, this was the cup from which someone must drink from the well.

"You can't do it," he told the mage again. "Please, please don't do it..."

Yixing spoke again. "Someone has to though."

"No, no please," Luhan begged him. "We can just leave. We don't have to--"

"You don't understand, Luhan," said Minseok sadly. "It's too late. The magic is already building. We... I, one of us has to drink. _The well demands it_."

 

 

 

 

From his little corner of the Veil, Sehun awoke. His eyelids felt heavy, his stomach churned. He thought he'd heard everything, he thought he understood everything... Unless that was all a dream?

"Sehun? Sehun?! Wait, he's awake. He's awake." Someone pulled him up. His knees were like jelly. Kyungsoo's face swam before his eyes. Someone was propping him up from behind, a pair of long legs encasing his own and he thought the person smelled like Tao. 

"I'm... okay, yeah," said Sehun, still working on his voice. He looked around. "So... this wasn't just a dream."

Gently, Kyungsoo held his hand. "We're in the Veil, Sehun. I'm so sorry." 

Sehun tried to smile. "Why are you sorry? Isn't this what was always going to happen?"

No one responded, least of all Kyungsoo who shook his and looked away. 

From across the well, Xiumin was the only person who look meet him in the eye. Fear shot through Sehun's body, but he refused to flinch. He was beyond that now, he decided. Whatever happened would happen. 

 

 

 

 

"Someone needs to drink..." Yixing repeated. 

 

 

 

 

 

Suho nudged Jongdae on the shoulder. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking," asked the dwarf.

"No, I'm not. And don't even think about it," replied the assassin. 

 

 

 

 

 

"I can do it, if no one else wants to?" Yixing offered, oh so casually it made Minseok's skin actually crawl. When had his mentor, his friend, become like this, he wondered. Or had Yixing always been that way?

"Luhan, I have to do it, you know I do," said the mage.

Luhan cringed, and somewhere else Xiumin was softly laughing at them. 

"No, you don't actually."

 

 

 

 

 

Xiumin whined. "Someone do it soon, okay?!" 

"How about you drink then," said Kyungsoo. 

The maleficar scoffed, but even he could not hide his fears.

Yixing eyed him stonily and smirked. "What, do you not trust me to take the sacrifice?" 

 

 

 

 

 

"I'm still not even sure how it works," said Baekhyun. He leaned out of Jongin's arms, his face a shade less green than before. "Seriously, no one knows what'll happen to the person who drinks it?"

"No," said Jongin quickly. "We don't know, they don't know, so let them deal with it. Sehun, come over here now though, please."

 

 

 

 

 

Sehun bristled at being told what to do. Then again, these were the people who had kept him relatively safe... Relative at least, as they were all now stuck somewhere dangerous, surrounding a most ancient of ruins, and an ancient, evil power. 

 

 

 

 

 

"No one?" asked Yixing again. 

 

 

 

 

 

More silence settled around the well, as each of the considered the magic whose power was building, crackling with unspent energy. The colors of its rays wove together, the entire pool itself now seemed to glow. The person who drank from it would need to wade into the well itself, and take the cup. 

 

 

 

 

 

"I'll do it."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ ~ ~ READER PLEASE STOP AND READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ~ ~ ~ ~
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> This fic is coming to a close. But now you will have your pick of the endings.
> 
>  
> 
> **Who. Will. Drink???**
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Please click on the links here, or on the index tab.  At the end of each alternate ending there will be a link to direct you to the final epilogue. **Do Not Click Next!**  Unless you just want to, hey I can't stop you if you want to sample all the endings, have your cake and eat it too ;)
> 
> Thank you all for reading. Please, **CHOOSE YOUR HERO!**
> 
>  
> 
> \- [Luhan](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461215)
> 
> \- [Minseok](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461296)
> 
> \- [Sehun](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461491)
> 
> \- [Suho](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461545)
> 
> \- [Yixing](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461581)
> 
> \- [Baekhyun](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461635)
> 
>  
> 
> Good luck. 


	46. Ending 1: Luhan "The Hero Templar"

CODEX UPDATED

The following story was pieced together somewhere near the end of the Dragon Age, 9:45, sometimes under the name "The Hero Templar" which would be later added to the ending of A Compendium of Stories in the Dragon Age. Its origins thus place it within the realm of possibility that this unnamed templar, sometimes called Luhan, if that be his real name (many say it is a mere pseudonym) is the true hero of the Well of Emerald Waters, a legend and certainly a place thought lost to our times. As for this mystery, herein follows the tale. 

> I tell you it was the templar who finally drank from the well. Believing only that his beloved would die, Luhan became the sacrifice himself. They say he drank not even knowing what might happen to him, but that he'd been told the deepest desires of those who released the magic would somehow come true, and that he would be a payment for it. Luhan gave his life willingly for his friends. He drank of the cup, and in a flash his body was deformed, doubled over and near death. A templar possesses strange magicks, for in their core they have been fed the lyrium that manipulates others' magicks. For this reason he did not die as he should have, but was entranced by this evil magic which belonged to the well. 
> 
> As for his companions, they cried to see his sacrifice. But the templar was a hero. Without him, the Grey One would not have lived, cured forever of the Taint. Though not immortal, he was gifted with life anew, a second chance to make amends. Years later the Grey One was seen wandering Ferelden, sometimes in the southern regions near the Arling of West Hills, sometimes in the company of Xiumin the Great. He would die, old and wise, but of normal consequences many years later. Some say he would live to fight the great dragon Yixing once more at that dragon's last stand, an outcome which would surely not have come about with the templar's noble sacrifice
> 
> Even Xiumin the Great, and his brother Minseok, were indebted to the templar. The former survived, his heart which was blackened from ill magicks now wiped clean and purified. Who could have foretold that, surely, when he was such a villain before. Perhaps that had been his wish after all? To be cured from his demons. As for Minseok, no one knows what exactly he wished for. Although perhaps it was for Luhan's own life, which was granted to him after a fact. 
> 
> To save his life, and because they were not powerful enough on their own, Luhan's companions took his body to the Circle Tower where for months, some say years, the greatest Circle mages from all over Thedas worked over his body, pouring their healing magic into him. And when he awoke finally, he found himself healed, renewed, healthier than ever, but alone. His sole companion was a mabari hound by the name of Alistair. The two adventured together for years in search of a person he would never name. When the skies were rent, and a breach torn through the Veil by the Elder One, Luhan and his companion prevailed across Thedas, aiding the Inquisition in all they could. When Civil War broke across Orlais, they were there too, brokering the peace between enemies, though all that was a just a temporary adventure. Many believed he ever on the trail of Xiumin the Great; still more knew him to be on a quest for his long lost lover who went missing during this turbulent age. 
> 
> The only thing we know is that he never returned to the Templar Order. Disgusted with their treatment of the mages for so many ages, he hung his robes in the Circle Tower, and never looked back. 
> 
>  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this ending not your cup of tea? Try a different one! Or go ahead and skip to the [EPILOGUE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461680)


	47. Ending 2: Minseok "The Noble Mage"

CODEX UPDATED

The following story was pieced together somewhere near the end of the Dragon Age, 9:45, sometimes under the name "The Hero Templar" which would be later added to the ending of A Compendium of Stories in the Dragon Age. Its origins thus place it within the realm of possibility that Minseok, otherwise known as Xiumin the Great is the true hero of the Well of Emerald Waters, a legend and certainly a place thought lost to our times. Though the authenticity of this tale makes us a little suspicious, some say the author may have been one of the Three Adventurers. On the other hand, modern scholarship proceeds to quantily it a little more than 'fanfiction'. Perhaps we shall never truly know. 

> Now first of all I want to tell you that so many people cannot get their heads around the idea that Minseok and Xiumin were two people! No, seriously. I have seen those parchments that make their rounds, and those songs that get about the taverns. Minseok this, who is Xiumin that, or maybe they don't even know the two names and they just refer to him as "The Noble Mage!"
> 
> Well, Pfft! is what I say that. Minseok, noble? On my Maker's pretty arse. Why, that little runt of a mage (he was definitely shorter than myself) was just as foolish and me- I mean, as anybody. He fell in love with a templar of all abominations. And after he stole and broke that poor templar's heart, he went ahead and did a stupid sacrifice at that little fountain thingy. 
> 
> At least they say it was worth it. Kyungsoo lived, and the "noble" mage's dear, evil maleficar of a brother got a new heart and a magical desire to do ONLY THE GOOD THINGS. Good thing too I guess, for Xiumin the Great (I can't believe bards call him that now) actually did a great service to Thedas in the intervening years. Instrumental to the Inquisition, I heard. Or was he more of a bother? Who knows anymore, all the stories seem the same: which is to say, weaving and impartial and probably full of lies. Except mine of course. Mine is the only trustworthy tale. 
> 
> Where were we again? 
> 
> Right! Minseok, the noble mage, did a sacrifice, and who knows now how he actually lived. We all thought he would die, since you know, you hear of somebody sacrificing themselves at the well of this evil place of magic and you obviously think "well he's a goner." But no, Minseok lived. Well, he almost died. In fact he was definitely dying, but his brother (whose name is actually Xiumin, please do not confuse the two) took sudden compassion on this sibling of his. And because he'd been granted something akin to immortality (but not quite) along with his new and renewed good heart, before the weird magic in the pool fully disintegrated, Xiumin took a sip too and wished so hard for his brother to live. See, not a bad fellow, even if he almost got us killed a million times. 
> 
> So Minseok lived, and he ran off with that lovestruck templar and they apparently lived happily ever after. Until you know, that minor little war where the templars and the mages got into a fight over some lame little breach in the sky. I once heard of a fellow who knew a gal who found the bodies of a mage and a templar laying peacefully (dead) on a picnic blanket in the hills south of Redcliffe. No way though. Maybe they were fools, but they definitely weren't that foolish. No, in fact, I visited them about ten years later. Me and my elf lover Kai (I'm the elf by the way) took the kiddos and spent a week on the southern shores of Nevarra where they'd apparently made their new home. No kids yet, but lots and lots of dogs. They seemed cool. Kept in touch with the gang, mostly. Even that beastly dragon, WHO BY THE WAY I TOTALLY SLEW ONCE! Yeah I did that, that was me. I mean kinda. Shall we just call it a friendly skirmish between friends? Makes such a nice cup of tea though, after he patches you up, Yixing. Maker's breath, dragon wounds are brutal. 
> 
> How do I end this now? Oh right. The End. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this ending not your cup of tea? Try a different one! Or go ahead and skip to the [EPILOGUE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461680)


	48. Ending 3: Sehun "The Beautiful Arl of West Hills"

CODEX UPDATED

The following story was pieced together somewhere near the end of the Dragon Age, 9:45, sometimes under the name "The Beautiful Arl of West Hills" which would be later added to the ending of A Compendium of Stories in the Dragon Age. Possibly a companion piece to the Tale of the Grey One, its origins thus place it within the realm of possibility that Arl Sehun is the true hero of the Well of Emerald Waters, a legend and certainly a place thought lost to our times. The tale presented here is a romantic one, with some contemporary critics claiming it wasn't exactly like this. One, a noted warrior of the greatsword (possibly one of the Three Adventurers), recalls sitting in a tavern with both the author and the two subjects with many giggles happening on each side. This claim itself, however, does not lend itself to pure authenticity, leading us to say our readers should decide for themselves. 

_(The parchment begins, as so many old copies half-disintegrated with age, in the middle)_

 

> ... and thus they met again, the hunted and the hunter, two comrades in arms huddled in each other's embrace. Kyungsoo wept for the terrible magic that had maimed Sehun's body. The boy could hardly walk, let alone think rationally about what he insisted on doing. Was that why? Was that why he did it? 
> 
> "I never meant for you to do this, my love," said Kyungsoo to the boy. 
> 
> They shared a moment, two lone souls in the midst of all chaos. 
> 
> "I know. But I love you." 
> 
> The music soared, that great undercurrent of magic produced from the deeps. So few creatures alive have found themselves in the Veil and lived to tell about it. Yet here sat these two, falling in love in that most upside down of planes. 
> 
> "You don't know what will happen if you drink from that cup," said Kyungsoo. 
> 
> "No. But I do know the wishes of your heart. Kyungsoo, I can make you well again."
> 
> Their companions cried to witness it, an act so tragic, so noble, so beautiful. This boy with all his life in front of him, giving it away for the most greyish of men. Was Kyungsoo's heart ever really in it? they asked themselves. Was it not a farce, a ploy and a lure? Watching them like this made you want to believe in every little dash of love. 
> 
> Then the villain of the party mumbled, that despicable brother of the great mage himself. 
> 
> "Is... Is there room for me in this too, please?" 
> 
> Sehun stared him down with soulful eyes. "You tricked me," he told the maleficar. "You tried to kill me, so many times." 
> 
> Kyungsoo held his hand. "Don't save him. He doesn't deserve it."
> 
> But Sehun shook his head. He turned to Minseok who had been so noble, who had already determined that he would take the sacrifice, not only for Kyungsoo who was a stranger to him, but for his vile brother as well. If this noble mage still thought Xiumin had an ounce worth saving, then Sehun trusted him.
> 
> "No, I will forgive him. I will save them all." 
> 
> And so he walked upon water and took of the cup and drank it. The cold hit him like ice, like fractured shards tearing down his throat. He coughed and fell and began to drown. A body held him back, pulled him into safety beside the shallow of the well. 
> 
> "Sehun, what have you done?" asked the one who was slowly turning less grey. His eyes were sad, hooded, mournful unto death. "How can I live now, knowing everything you gave up?" 
> 
> As he lay there dying, the mages stood over his body, endeavoring to heal him, but they could not. Still at death's door, the Veil around them dissolved, some say because the magic of the well was spent, some say out of compassion, that even magic so foul knew when it had met its match. But it could not do anything for Sehun, that beautiful young arl. 
> 
> You know, there is no grave for him now known. Why? Because it is said, he never died. Kyungsoo took his body away to a dark place, trading up the disease of his youth and all his knowledge and wisdom for a cure which would save his beloved. So many think the tale of the grey one was not a story about Kyungsoo at all, but of the young and beautiful Arl of West Hills. 
> 
>  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this ending not your cup of tea? Try a different one! Or go ahead and skip to the [EPILOGUE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461680)


	49. Ending 4: Suho "The Skywalker"

CODEX UPDATED

The following song was pieced together somewhere near the end of the Dragon Age, 9:45, sometimes under the name "The Skywalker" which would be later added to the ending of A Compendium of Stories in the Dragon Age. Its origins thus place it within the realm of possibility that Suho, a dwarf of Orzammar, is the true hero of the Well of Emerald Waters, a legend and certainly a place thought lost to our times. Little is known about the hero himself, practically nothing about his origins, why he left Orzammar, or how he became mixed up with so many other personages whose names became famous for their contributions towards discovering (and then losing) the location of the well. But as for this mystery, herein follows the song.

> A great hero he
> 
> That dwarf from Orzammar
> 
> Who lived underground
> 
> In the lap of luxury 
> 
>  
> 
> Great wealth he should have known
> 
> From birth until he died
> 
> Yet he died a pauper's death
> 
> Covered with flowers grown
> 
>  
> 
> Of the knight he did well love
> 
> And was well loved in return
> 
> They say was no real knight
> 
> But an assassin from above
> 
>  
> 
> And they met before the pool
> 
> That terrible ancient place 
> 
> Where Suho gave his life 
> 
> His friends to save, oh fool
> 
>  
> 
> But his memory lives on
> 
> In the lives he freely saved
> 
> For he granted them their wishes
> 
> Even after he was gone 
> 
>  
> 
> For Kyungsoo, his first friend
> 
> A cure he did achieve
> 
> He made him not so grey
> 
> But alive with much to tend
> 
>  
> 
> And for Xiumin, evil mage
> 
> Suho took away his shame
> 
> And his guilt and all his grief
> 
> Let him live without his rage
> 
>  
> 
> But for Minseok, he could not 
> 
> His every wish achieve
> 
> For this mage's wish was just
> 
> That all evil should be fought
> 
>  
> 
> And the well was evil still
> 
> From its origin, its core
> 
> It resisted and it took
> 
> Suho's life, his dreams, his will
> 
>  
> 
> So many heroes mourn
> 
> Brave Suho, for his courage
> 
> For the sacrifice he made 
> 
> By his life, his body torn
> 
>  
> 
> Now remember this forever 
> 
> And all magic do avoid
> 
> Though it may give gifts aplenty
> 
> For price though it will sever
> 
>  
> 
> Dear Suho, noble lord
> 
> Will his name be sung for ages
> 
> In the taverns, bars, and brothels
> 
> Where all list'ners ne'er be bored
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _~ This heroic song was probably first sung around 9:40 in Redcliffe Tavern by the bard Joon Young. Though, due that to that minstrel's atrocious voice, the song quickly fell out of favor. Fortunately though for its titular hero, the song was heard yet again near ten years later in Denerim and became a favorite for young mothers to sing to their babies, usually as a teaching instrument about the evils of all magic. Many seem to forget that its hero was a dwarf or that dwarves cannot do magic, but such details never figure with songs anyways, so who actually cares._
> 
>  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this ending not your cup of tea? Try a different one! Or go ahead and skip to the [EPILOGUE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461680)


	50. Ending 5: Yixing "The Dragon Mage"

CODEX UPDATED

The following story was pieced together somewhere near the end of the Dragon Age, 9:45, sometimes under the name "The Dragon Mage" which would be later added to the ending of A Compendium of Stories in the Dragon Age. Its origins thus place it within the realm of possibility that Yixing is the true villain of the Well of Emerald Waters, a legend and certainly a place thought lost to our times. As for this mystery, herein follows the tale. 

> You'll have heard of Xiumin the Great? How about the Noble Mage. Yes? Do you know the story of the Hero Templar, The Three Adventurers of Ferelden, or even the Skywalker? Yes, and yes, and yes, should be your answers, for about these legends bards have much to sing. But do they sing of the Dragon Mage? Look to the skies. Have you heard the dragon!? 
> 
> His name was Yixing, an elven boy, born after a time of destruction. He lived in the shadows and in the wastes of the Exalted Marshes, nursing a grudge, both to avenge and to heal. Did he live for evil or for good? Is a person ever so very black or white? He learned many tricks and delved deeply in the the Fade, drawing forth magic unknown. He was a healer, first, a dragon second. He summoned bunnies to his feet, and expelled great villains. 
> 
> But at the well, that may have changed. Who knows the temptations of one's heart, when faced with such a power. He drank those healing waters, and reversed its power, swallowed the evil and spewed madness upon his companions instead. No sacrifice was he, but he sacrificed the others for his power was already too great. The Grey One was never the same after that day, and Xiumin the Great was eventually driven insane, to say nothing about his brother. How many survived that day? Will we actually know?
> 
> One has to wonder how old the Dragon Mage actually is. One wonders too about when he might die. Or does the Well of Emerald Waters, that terrible, evil place, actually grant the wish it promises: eternity. 
> 
> No one knows exactly where the Dragon Mage has gone, or where his quests now lie. But he's seen still, now and then, on a darkened night. And somewhere in its wake, the sounds of wolves howling at his spectacle. 
> 
> My friends, if you have seen the Dragon Mage, beware. Run fast and far, lock your doors, and hide in your cellars. But have hope, for the Three Adventurers are on his track. And one day, they claim, they'll bring it down once and for all. 
> 
>  

 

_{Addendum to the story of the Dragon Mage, from an Orelesian Scout's Report, 10:54}_

> ~Saw a dragon, location east of the Frostbacks
> 
> ~Unthinkable, weren't most hunted to extinction in the last age 
> 
> ~Gone to investigate
> 
> ~Definitely a high dragon, but not a female, which should not be possible
> 
> ~Upon closer inspection of its breeding grounds, we found no dragon
> 
> ~Met a friendly elf instead, young fellow, a healer by the name of Yixing

 

_{Follow-up to the Scout's Report, 10:57}_

> ~Sent more scouts to the proclaimed location of the dragon, as the former never returned after the last missive; these scouts have now also not returned. Suggest to the general that we send no more recruits to this area until the whereabouts of the dragon is confirmed. Suggest even more strongly that we avoid this area indefinitely at all costs. Let the blasted thing be and let us wipe our hands of becoming its prey. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this ending not your cup of tea? Try a different one! Or go ahead and skip to the [EPILOGUE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461680)


	51. Ending 6: Baekhyun "A Bard of Past and Present"

As the most astute, heroic and handsome member of the party, Byun Baekhyun sacrificed himself for his comrades, approaching the evil well without hesitation. He drank deeply, his friend’s crying at the selflessness he displayed.

Once the sacrifice was made, the well opened up, the ground rumbling and cracking. Baekhyun promptly tried to shield his friends from the potential danger, shooing them away from the mystical landscape.

His attempts were for naught, as the ground opened and swallowed his handsome figure up. The magnificent hero was surrounded by darkness for time innumerable, until his eyes fluttered open and revealed a most startling sight.

He blinked, trying to understand the sight before his heroic and very handsome eyes.

“Seriously, if you two start making out again….” Suho, the dwarf rolled his eyes at Luhan and Minseok. Except they were all different. So different.

Suho looked human now, and Luhan was dressed in sparkly clothing. Minseok as well. And Kris was there, and Jongin. Their hair was styled oddly, thick with some kind of product. In the corner of the room Kyungsoo, who was no longer grey with taint, was making strange barking noises...almost like singing.

“We’re on in five,” Yixing reported, eying up Baekhyun with a very non-heroic expression.

“Where are we?!” Baekhyun asked in his most heroic voice.

“Mcountdown…” Suho answered. Suddenly they were all looking at him, eying him up in confusion. “Are you okay, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun dragged his hand through his hair and blinked heroically. “Mcountdown…” he repeated in a strong, confident, totally not-afraid voice.

“Yeah, the music show,” Chanyeol said. Wait, why was Chanyeol so different too?!

“Where is this place…?” Baekhyun whispered.

“You’re name is Byun Baekhyun, lead singer of top Kpop group Exo. Remember? Did you have some weird dream or something?” Sehun approached, kneeling down to look Baekhyun in the eyes (non-heroically).

“Was it all a dream…?” Baekhyun wondered out loud. “If it was then you were there. And you! And you! And you!” Baekhyun pointed at all his travelling companions, the cowards who could never be as heroic as him ever, not in a million bazillion years. “But you were an elf, and you were a dwarf and you were…” he looked over at Kyungsoo. “Really hideous and kind of mean.”

What Baekhyun’s friends said in response mattered little in the grand scheme of things. What mattered is that they went on to win the music show, and dozens more after that. Byun Baekhyun become the most beloved celebrity to ever celebrity. He was totally hot and everyone loved him. So what if he had that weird ass dream once.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this ending not your cup of tea? Try a different one, and take up your grievances with [LONDON9CALLING](https://twitter.com/London9Calling) who was so cracktaculously generous to write this particular ending for Byun Baekhyun, the best dreamer in the whole wide world. No? Okay, then go ahead and skip to the [EPILOGUE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5102573/chapters/29461680)


	52. EPILOGUE - Part 1

"Tell me again why I'm letting you rope me into this?" Baekhyun seethed. 

The returning chuckle did nothing to appease the elf's disgruntlement, but the hand holding his, and that slight pressure of encouragement, did actually work to make him relax. 

"You're doing it for an old friend from your adventurous days," replied Jongin.

"Hah," said Baekhyun. "Since when were you the snarky one in this relationship?" 

"I've always been funny. You were just too busy running your mouth, and singing songs, and shooting at bears and... and taking off my clothes to let me get a word in edgewise." Jongin's retort had no sting. 

Shoulder to shoulder they sat on a clifftop looking down on the valley below where a small family of Dalish elves were making their way through an overgrown, lush forest. The roads hadn't been great for years, not since the Orlesian Civil War which, typically, had been fought right on top of Dalish soil. The aravel below, an elven boat on wheels, was on its side, two wheels stuck in a great rut from which the family could not seem to unstick it. Part of its sail was misshapen and bent. 

"Come on, Baek, let's go be heros again."

"Since when did we already stop being heroes?" Baekhyun scoffed. 

"Since Sehun's father gave us that bag of gold and released us from his employ ten years ago today," said Jongin fondly. 

"Oh, right," replied Baekhyun. "Gee, I almost forgot you were that sentimental. Also, I forgot we used to be rich." The elf huffed, tugged his hand from Jongin's, and folded his arms across his chest. He was still watching the struggling aravel below.

Jongin could tell he was close to caving. He smiled. "Sorry I lost the coin."

Baekhyun sniffed. "S'okay. Who needs gold anyway? That spider den can keep it for all I care. At least we still have all five limbs, something those cursed spiders won't ever have again." 

Jongin cocked his head. "You mean four limbs?"

"No, Jongin, I mean five." He turned his head, winked a couple times, then reached for Jongin's lap. 

"Woah! Not now, _not now_ , Baekhyun!"

With a loud and seething whine, Baekhyun sighed and returned his hands to his own lap. The elves below who presumed they were alone were  _still_  not making any progress with their aravel. Jongin reached for Baekhyun's hand and held it between his palms. He knew the reason Baekhyun didn't want to help. Those weren't just any elves down there; that was his clan. The ones he ran away from so many years before. He also knew that Baekhyun had been running for far too long. 

"You can do it, Baek."

"Do what? Spend another decade wandering the world with the best adventurer out there?"

Jongin laughed. "Well, you can do that too. But No, I meant... you can meet them again." 

There was silence for a little while. Then he asked, in a voice so soft it was almost lost to the wind. "You think so?"

Jongin squeezed his hand. "Yeah." 

Baekhyun still didn't move. "Hey, you think we can go hit up Chanyeol for another mini adventure first? I heard there were phoenixes terrorizing civilians in the Western Approach! Chanyeol loves phoenixes... We can--"

"No, Baekhyun. This first."

"But! ... Okay." 

 

 

 

 

Not terribly far away six different elves were unpacking their meager rations and settling in a for a night in the barn outside of a modest human community. Tao stretched his arms above his head and yawned. His new friends, recently cured of their lupine illness, copied him awkwardly before lying down. They were still unused to their human bodies, but given a little help adjusting Tao was fairly confident that Doojun, Junhyung, Kikwang, Yoseob, and Dongwoon were actually going to be alright. They'd lost of one of their members who preferred to go solo, but the rest were perfectly happy to take the invite so surprisingly conveyed to them by Kris, the once mercenary qunari. The lumber mill where he'd been working to a help a family by the name of Seung had lost some of his workers over the past few years. 

Someone knocked on the barn door. Tao opened it gladly.

"Kris. Good to see you again."

He had to look up quite a ways, and the qunari's face was shadowed, but he swore Kris smiled. For the qunari at least, that meant a small adjustment of the lips. 

"Your pack doing okay these days?" asked Kris by way of greeting. 

"Better yes, now that Minseok persuaded his brother to heal them the same as he did with me."

Kris snorted. "Heard that wretched maleficar was going by a new name these days."

"Xiumin the Great? Yes, I heard." But Tao made no other comment. "Thanks for the opportunity though. These guys have spent way too long on the road. They're ready to settle down, plant some roots. None of the other human villages though will take them in, and the elves they once knew generations ago are dead now."

"Well, it's no problem. I can understand all that. Even in my blood, the wanderlust has faded. Logger Seung's a good man, and fair. Good family too. He'll treat your boys right."

"Heard these parts were hit pretty bad when the Red Templars came through."

Kris snorted. "Not here they didn't. Not with me around. And I thought Luhan was bad with his lyrium addiction. That was nothing, nothing in comparison!"

"You're a good qunari, Kris. Shall we get some ale now? Reminisce about the old days?" 

Kris's chuckle was more of a rumble. "I guess that'd be alright. Speaking of Luhan, have you heard from him or the old gang recently?"

"No. Not since he hung his robes and left the Circle. And that was before the war." 

"I got a letter six months months ago from Jongdae."

"Yeah? Tell me about it over a fire. I'm freezing!"

 

 

 

 

 

Two souls stood and stared at the great dwarven barrier, the door through which so much had happened so many years ago. 

Suho gulped. "I changed my mind. I'm not going in."

Jongdae elbowed him in the head. "Too late, my love. It's now or never," he quipped, a wide grin on his face and growing wider as they watched the great entryway to Orzammar open up before him. They'd only barely managed to attain entry, courtesy of some shady patron Jongdae had managed to acquire in the Diamond Quarter who wanted him to do a job.  

Suho's legs trembled. His voice grew faint. "Nah, we can just turn around. Forget the whole thing, and go home."

"Ahh, come on," said Jongdae, already stepping forward. "You can do this. We've trained for years, years! You're a master bludgeoner now, this is gonna be a cinch!" He indicated the spiked mace intricately hidden in the folds of Suho's garments. "Tell me the plan. Say it slowly, repeat it.  _Master_  the plan, Suho."

The dwarf swallowed heavily and took a step forward with Jongdae. "We go in. We do your job. We bludgeon a few extra people, say it was an accident, free my sister, take my house back .... Jongdae that's too much, it's never going to work."

"It'll work."

"It's not gonna work."

"It'll work! You've got an Antivan assassin by your side." 

"You're not actually Antivan."

"Close enough though. Come on, the door's not going to stay open forever now."

Again Suho's legs seemed to falter and he couldn't go on. Jongdae nudged him once, and he stumbled. Finally, he got up the courage. Three times now had he walked through these doors, once when he left the Stone, twice when he came back in, ten years ago undercover with the best set of traveling friends a dwarf could ever find. Now, again, but still incognito.

"Explain to me again why I'm dressed up as a girl."

Jongdae tittered hilariously and whispered loudly, "Because no one needs to know just yet that Lord Junmyeon of House Kondrat is back in Orzammar, here to avenge all wrongs. Wooo!" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also in Ferelden, near the southwestern region where the arling of Redcliffe ends and another arling begins, the heir of West Hills awoke from a nightmare. 

"What! Stop! No!" he cried, actually falling out of bed. He landed in a heap on the floor, bare legs colliding with cold, hard stone. He thrashed even more until becoming fully awake and then he just sat there for a second, wrapped in a blanket, observing his surroundings. His hair stuck up in a mess. His heart thundered in his chest. It took a good while for him to calm down and realize he was not in fact in the Fade, but actually in his room. 

Someone knocked on his chamber door. Without waiting for an answer, Chanyeol strode right in. 

"Good morning, ser. How is ser today, is ser ready for his breakfast now, or would ser prefer to wait an hour while he goes gallivanting off without telling ser's favorite servant and bodyguard where he's off to? Ser? Ser?" 

Sehun scowled. "Stop it will you."

"What was that, ser? Does ye young Lord of West Hills actually speak to such a servant as I or does he only tell riddles."

Sehun pulled himself to his feet, the blanket still heavy around his body and frowned some more. "I said quit it, Chanyeol. I told you yesterday I was sorry, you don't have to browbeat me to death today."

The bodyguard's posh expression faded into a softer touch, practically radiant. Chanyeol beamed at him. "Your father's been up for two hours already. He's expecting you after breakfast. Try not to annoy him too much today. I'm still working to his approval for another vacation and if he thinks I'm not a good companion for you he'll probably deny me, again."

Sehun smiled. "Are you so ready to run off on me again, see your friends and do all the fun stuff behind my back?"

"They're your friends too," replied Chanyeol. "Also, you seem to do plenty of fun stuff all on your own, without me." He glanced briefly towards the bed, where on the other side of Sehun's pillow was another one, semi-mashed. "How's he by the way?"

The smile dropped quickly from Sehun's face. He raised his chin. "I don't know to whom you're referring to?" 

"Ser's such a little liar," said Chanyeol fondly. "Hurry now. Sun's already halfway up the sky. Tell Kyungsoo hi for me, I'll be out making inspections for the rest of the day."

"Who? I don't even know that name."

Chanyeol paused on his way out the doorway. "Did I say tell him hi? How lame. Give him a hug instead."

"He hates hugs, and he doesn't like you," said Sehun before he could stop himself.

Chanyeol grinned. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Go!" shouted Sehun, his lips ringing irritably into a smile. Blasted man for Sehun to be saddled with for a lifetime of  _lordly_  things. Could be worse though. After all that excitement a decade ago, he could have just been left alone. Instead, he had Chanyeol, and some old friends who visited from time to time, Baekhyun and Jongin, sometimes Jongdae and Suho. Luhan sent him letters and drawings of Alistair. And then there was  _him, Kyungsoo,_ who visited sparingly and stealthily and stole him away for days at a time. 

Sehun was the future arl of West Hills, and who know where that role would take him. But in the meantime, he had a secret. 

 

 

 

He wasn't the only one though. Deep in the Wilds another mage roamed free, and alone. Animals scattered at his footfall, and the birds grew silent in the trees overhead. Shadows lingered wherever he passed and stayed there for days, weeks, years. 

For so long he'd been searching for a source of power unknown, finding nothing but echoes, and traces. 

He stopped for a time beside the ruined shack where decades ago an entire family had died. He'd never heard their screams, but their bodies he knew well. His fault, all his fault. But after all this time he could not feel any remorse for the events he'd let slip into such a destructive fate. 

"Two boys played in a wood," he chanted softly, one lone delicate finger tracing a pattern of magic in the soot covered floor board overgrown with weeds. "The saint and the demon. They played with no toys, but one glass bottle..." 

He began to dig, first with his hands, and then with magic. Deeper than a grave he went, twice deeper than that, seeking that precious trace of evil. 

"Ahh, finally, at last," he said to no one but the shadows. "My phylactery." And then he was gone. 

 

 

 

 


	53. EPILOGUE - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SEXUAL ACTIVITIES. If that isn't your thing, scroll down pass the next Horizontal Line Marker to read the end. I promise it'll include the non-smutty Xiuhan conclusion there too. 

"Is anyone even in that room?" asked a patron of the inn. 

"No?" replied another.

"Yes, but there must be."

"How so?"

"That dog, it hasn't left the doorstep for a whole day."

"So?"

The travelers blinked at each other and scratched their heads, and wondered vaguely why the top room of the Inn in the quaintest of Nevarran coastal villages kept baffling them and making them forget things. For days now no one had been able to approach the door, including the tavern owner himself who would show it to a prospective customer, find himself being growled at by one enormous hound, and then promptly forget what he was doing there. 

Two charms so effective, one magical, one physical, keeping out all potential bothers. 

Minseok snickered. One hand snaked under the blankets of their pallette, down the muscular body of his very own, favorite templar. 

"Again?" cried Luhan, his exasperation only for show. Sweat beaded along his forehead and down his temples. The skin of his chest was flushed, his cheeks flamed red. 

"What do you mean, again? We've been laying here doing  _nothing_  for the last two hours."

Luhan huffed. "Yeah, and I remember a lot happened two hours ago. Can't you let a man get some rest?" 

"No," said the mage honestly. 

He rolled on top of blankets, bare assed and determined. "When was it you fell in love with me" he posed, pressing his lips to Luhan's with hardly enough space to speak. 

The templar grinned at him, pressed up close and kissed him. "The moment I first saw you?" He laughed.

Minseok smirked. He dragged his knees up to support his body, pulling his chest up, supported by his palms. "Be serious," he said, all the while drawing the blanket down to reveal a large swath of naked chest. Then he leaned over, kissing along the templar's collar bones to elicit an answer. 

"Serious? You want me to be serious at a moment like this?" Luhan's breath was already coming out shallow. Beneath the blanket his hips gyrated slowly upwards, chasing a friction the mage was not ready to give him. 

"Tell me," said Minseok again, softer.

"Maybe," replied Luhan. "Fuck me first though?"

"Hmmmm," moaned Minseok. "That could be arranged." 

He flipped over hard, landing with a soft thump on the pallet, back where he'd started. Languidly he spread his legs, knees up, took his cock in his hand and began to stroke. Luhan whined, suddenly in a fuss to get out from the blanket. His skin prickled in the cool air, though the sight of Minseok with his head thrown back in pleasure was beginning to warm him up.

"You look so good like that." He put his mouth to the tip of Minseok's cock, drawing the mage's fingers into his mouth instead. Minseok's stomach rippled in anticipation, but he let Luhan suck two of fingers deep into his mouth, that wet suction a promise of what was to come. 

"So do you," he responded. "Come here." He set up partway, enough to draw Luhan's head to his. The kiss was hot but short, more teeth on each other's lips than strictly necessary. Minseok flopped back with a satisfied sigh, pushed Luhan back down to his cock and groaned obscenely when Luhan wasted no more time. The templar held his hips, slipping Minseok's cock halfway down his mouth. It was shallow, sloppy, and rough. Just the way Minseok usually liked it. Once glance up through fluttering eyelashes, Luhan saw that Minseok wasn't even looking. He had his had back again, shoulder blades arching against the pallet, hands flopping haphazardly by his side until they hooked around Luhan's neck. It was an oddly soft, intimate touch to accompany something so lewd. But his fingertips were tough from the elements, from wielding a staff, from living on the run, and they tickled at the soft hairs on the sensitive end of Luhan's skin. 

With a groan, Luhan pulled away. "Maker, look at you right now." 

"Yeah? Ride me then," said the mage with just enough cheek.

Luhan smiled. "Gladly."  Then he scampered up the other's hard body, grasping at the stray jar of oil which he thrust into Minseok's palm. "Do the honors?" He grinned, bashfully confident. "Since I did you last time?"

Even like this, fully erect and covered in sweat, Minseok had the gall to blush. "Yeah," he whispered again. "That I can do." 

Luhan crawled forward, kissing his neck, nibbling beneath his chin. At the first stretch of Minseok's fingers inside him, he groaned into the mage's skin, muffling the sound like Minseok hadn't already charmed the door and the walls, floors and ceiling, from all potential ears. Part of that was because Minseok was a wanted mage. Most of it because Luhan liked their privacy.

He sat up finally, positioned himself against Minseok's cock, and sank down effortlessly slow. 

"Not gonna last long," he warned. 

Through gritted teeth, Minseok added, "Me neither. Just do it." He gripped the templar around the hips. Luhan palmed his biceps in return, arching his back and grinding down, short and shallow until he was fully adjusted. His cock bobbed with every drop of his body, the smell of sweat and precum in the air. 

"Harder," he urged, to which Minseok responded. The mage jerked his hips upwards hard as he could, grunting each time. Luhan closed his eyes, held on tight and began slamming his body down to meet him. It was sloppy timing, and neither cared worth a damn. 

"Touch me, please," he begged. Minseok's hands were there before he'd even finished asking. One, two, three, four strokes later he came between the mage's hands. His body fell over, caging the other man with his elbows, lungs gasping for air with his nose half buried in Minseok's neck once more. He heard Minseok finish inside him with one long, satisfied sigh. 

Minutes later it seemed, Minseok rolled them over. 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"You never answered me," said the mage. 

"Answered what?" 

Luhan was once more wrapped up tightly in the middle of his blanket, this time with Minseok right beside him. 

"When you first fell in love with me."

Minseok asked like he didn't care, like he didn't occasionally ask this question of Luhan at least once a year. Every time they met actually, which was pretty often. He hummed. "I don't know. Maybe the first time you saved us from the bears."

Minseok slapped him. "What? Really?"

Luhan laughed. "No. Though when Sehun disappeared that time, and you went after him, I really did think you were never coming back."

"I said be serious. When was it?"

"Haven't I told you before," Luhan stalled. 

"No. You haven't. You always play around and you say something stupid like, 'the first time I slept beside you.'" Minseok sighed.

Luhan felt for his hand and drew it to his chest. "Well, what makes you think it wasn't then?" 

The mage whined. Luhan smiled and closed his eyes. "It probably was then, you know. But okay, I'll tell you when I really  _knew_  that I was in love with you."

"When?" asked Minseok, no pause. 

"When the dragon attacked us, when Yixing knocked that flaming tree onto our heads, and we were stuck under it forever. You told me about yourself, about who 'Xiumin' really was. Every time before then I realized I had just been disappointed about you lying to me. But then, under that tree, I realized it was because I loved you that I had been so mad."

Minseok's voice was soft. "And after that?"

"After that I wasn't mad at you anymore. I just wanted deeply for you to never leave me again, and never lie to me again."

Minseok turned and faced him, kissed his once against the lips and pulled away. "You gave up being a templar for me, Luhan."

"Mmmm, that I did." Luhan kissed him back. 

"I love you for that," said the mage.

"Mmmm, I know."

"I loved you before then too." 

"Did you?" Another kiss. 

"Yeah."

"I think I knew that too. Hey Minseok?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we get some sleep tonight?" 

"Sure, Luhan. Let's do that."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Far, far away to the south of Thedas, another mage reached the hollowed out shack. He pulled back his mage's cowl and stared at the pile of uprooted soil and debris, at the great hole left in the center of his family's destroyed home, unoccupied since so many years ago. One sweep of his staff revealed the spellwork which had been recently done here. He frowned, unnerved by the scant trace of a magic far greater than his own. Gingerly, he lowered himself into the earth and began feeling for the box he had hidden there for safety. 

As expected, it was gone. Fear seeped into his bones, into his blood. Fear over the unharnessed power which had returned to the hands of its master. Ages he had spent seeking out that dark, black vial of blood, a memento of an even more ancient age. He thought it would be safe here, that the mage would not return to a place of pain not his own. But Xiumin had been wrong. And now all the evil he sought to undo, both from himself and from the world, was in the hands of a stronger power. 

"I must find Minseok," he said to himself, "and tell him... Yixing was already here." 

 

 

 **END**. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAKER'S @*$(*@#(&(&&&(!!# I FNISHED OMG. 2 1/2 years later this fic is finally complete. I HOPE IT LIVED UP TO EXPECTATIONS. (It probably didn't, but that's okay.) Drop a comment anywhere. Here, Twitter, wherever you want. Sorry for the semi-open ending?? I'll answer any questions you have about it, but in the meantime I'm off to celebrate finishing this seriously long f---ing  fic. I had no idea it would take me so long. 
> 
> SPECIAL SHOUTOUT TO LONDON9CALLING. My best friend who also chipped in to write so many fun sections of this fic. She is amazing. <3 
> 
> P.S. I still haven't even finished DA Inqusition so I guess it's no surprise. I'm just slow at gaming, both writing and playing. :P 
> 
>  
> 
> THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!!


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